In the first match of the Conference League qualifying round, Cherkasy's LNZ drew 0-0 with Belgian Gent at home. Despite the visitors' status as favorites, they failed to impose their game, while the hosts, who controlled the ball at the start of the match, failed to capitalize on their chances.

Statistics and match flow

The opening minutes of the match showed an unexpected distribution of power: ball possession statistics were 72% in favor of the Cherkasy team against 26% for the Belgians. Although the figures evened out by the end of the first half, the initiative belonged to the Ukrainian club for most of the time. Gent relied on quick attacks but made too many mistakes in the first half.

The visitors' first real chance only arose in the 36th minute. At the same time, LNZ could have opened the scoring as early as the 23rd minute: player David went one-on-one with goalkeeper Rof, but failed to convert the breakaway. There were no further threats to the Belgian goal in the first half.

Missed opportunities in the second half

LNZ started the second half actively. In the 50th minute, Assinor could have scored from close range, but the Gent goalkeeper saved his shot. In the 63rd minute, a series of mistakes by the Cherkasy team led to a dangerous moment: Gore got into a shooting position, but his shot hit the crossbar.

Otherwise, the match passed without bright episodes. Players from both teams made technical errors and could not build quality combination play. Towards the end of the match, Gent had several approaches to the goal, but the Ukrainian goalkeeper Palamarchuk reliably kept his goal "dry".

Outlook and next match

The return leg will take place on July 30 in Belgium. In case of success over two legs, LNZ will continue its path to the group stage of the Conference League, where it will play against the winner of the Gothenburg (Sweden) / Levadia (Estonia) tie.

Previously, Ukrainian clubs also competed in European competitions: Dynamo lost to Greek PAOK, while Polissya and Danish Copenhagen played a high-scoring match with goals from both sides.