Kazakhstan's women's football club Aktobe began their Champions League campaign with a confident victory over Iceland's Breidablik from Kopavogur. The match took place in the semifinal of the second qualifying round of the main European cup, reports infohub.kz.
The qualifying mini-tournament is hosted by Aktobe. The match ended 1:1 in regular time. The hosts took the lead in the 12th minute thanks to a goal from Kazakhstan national team midfielder Ekaterina Babshuk. The visitors equalized in the 16th minute with a precise strike from American midfielder Kathleen Duong.
No goals were scored in extra time, so the fate of the ticket to the final was decided by a penalty shootout. Aktobe players were more accurate and won 2:0. The decisive contribution to the victory was made by Russian goalkeeper of the red-and-whites Zukhra Tolibekova, who saved two shots.
Thus, Aktobe advanced to the final of the qualifying tournament, where they will face Switzerland's Servette from Geneva. The Swiss team thrashed Belarusian Dynamo Minsk 3:0 in their semifinal.
The winner of the final will advance to the third qualifying round of the Champions League, while the losers will end their participation in the tournament.