Almaty's Kairat suffered a second heavy defeat to Anderlecht in the Europa League qualification, losing 0:3 in Brussels. After a home loss by the same score, the Kazakh champions exit the Europa League and will continue in the main draw of the Conference League, reports infohub.kz.
Given the crushing defeat in the first leg, the chances of a successful comeback were minimal, so Kairat's coaching staff fielded an experimental lineup. Rafael Urazbakhtin decided to rest key players ahead of an important Kazakh league match against Semey on August 31.
In goal, instead of Temirlan Anarbekov, young Sherkhan Kalmurza started, who last played in European competition 11 months ago in a memorable match against Real Madrid. The young goalkeeper did not lose his nerve and repeatedly saved his team from certain goals.
Kairat did not sit back. In the 24th minute, Spaniard Marc Gual set up Portuguese Luis Matu one-on-one with Anderlecht goalkeeper Colin Coosemans with a delicate pass, but the visitors' captain failed to beat the keeper.
Just before halftime, the hosts scored a "dressing room" goal. After a corner kick by Czech Lukas Ambros, Ukrainian Danylo Sikan headed the ball, and it ricocheted off Olzhas Baibek's hand to Kalmurza. Norwegian referee Espen Eskas, after a video review, saw a violation and awarded a penalty. Serbian Mihajlo Cvetković converted from the spot, despite Kalmurza guessing the direction, making it 1:0.
In the second half, Sikan finally got his goal. Receiving a pass from Marko Kana on the flank, the Ukrainian burst into the box, beat Baibek, and fired precisely under the crossbar to make it 2:0.
In the closing stages, the visitors' play completely fell apart. In the 71st minute, Frenchman Julien Biancon, meeting a corner delivery, set the final score at 3:0, repeating the result of the first match.
The draws for the main draws of the Europa League and Conference League will take place on August 28. The day before, Champions League participants learned their opponents.