Kostanay's Tobol defeated Lithuania's Panevezys 3-2 on penalties in the second qualifying round of the Europa Conference League, after the match ended 1-1 in regulation and extra time. The result secured the Kazakh club's progression on aggregate, reports the website infohub.kz.
Despite pre-match expectations, the visitors took the lead after half an hour. Ghanaian Isaac Asante crossed into the box, and Nauris Petkevicius beat French defender Rian Senaji to open the scoring past Danil Ustimenko. However, in first-half stoppage time, Moroccan Amin Talal forced the ball over the line from Islam Chesnokov's cross to make it 1-1. The aggregate score was level at 2-2.
After the break, Tobol played more actively, creating chances against goalkeeper Vytautas Černiauskas. On 60 minutes, Alexander Zuev missed from 13 meters, and on 76, his shot from outside the box hit the post – the goalkeeper barely touched it. Extra time followed with numerous missed chances (Dauren Zhumat, Luiz Guerra, Islam Chesnokov) and a penalty shootout where Danil Ustimenko, like Temirlan Anarbekov the day before, saved two penalties to secure the win.
The penalty shootout ended 3-2: Guerra, Tsanvich, and Tagybergen scored; Rasimavicius hit the crossbar; Ramanauskas and Kurtsev converted for the Lithuanians; while Ndiaye, Keita, Asrankulov, and Bachanin failed to beat Ustimenko. The first leg in Panevezys also ended 1-1, giving Tobol a good chance in the home match.
Tobol's next opponent will be Belgrade's Partizan, which is expected to advance after beating Luxembourg's UN Käerjéng 4-0 in the first leg. To reach the Conference League group stage, Tobol must overcome three qualifying rounds. Group stage matches start on 15 October and end on 17 December, with the final scheduled for 2 June 2027 at Beşiktaş Park in Istanbul.
Earlier, Almaty's Kairat advanced to the third qualifying round of the Champions League by beating Cyprus's Omonia on penalties. Their next opponent will be Bulgarian champions Levski. The matches will be played on 4 August in Sofia and 11 August in Turkistan. The fixture was moved to Turkistan Arena due to a concert by American rapper Kanye West on 14 August at Almaty's Central Stadium.