Floriana hold their own in six-goal thriller – IN FOCUS

Floriana came back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with Crvena zvezda (Red Star) in the second leg of their Europa League first qualifying round tie at the Hibernians Stadium on Thursday. Having won the first legf 3-0 in Belgrade, Crvena Zvezda advanced to the next round 6-3 on aggregate. Red Star took the lead on 13 minutes when Richmond Boakye headed in a cross from the right from Dusan Andjelkovic. After Juninho missed a couple of inviting chances to level matters, Floriana made it 1-1 in first-half stoppage time. They were awarded a penalty after Juninho was tripped inside the box and Steve Pisani made no mistake from the spot. Against the run of play, Red Star restored their lead on 70 minutes. A cross from the left was met well by Srnic who passed to the unmarked Boakye and the latter rifled past goalkeeper Matthew Grech. Substitute Nenad Milijas increased the Serbian side’s lead on 77 minutes but barely 30 seconds later, Maurizio Vella made it 2-3, concluding a good attack on the left with a strong drive.  With 10 minutes on the clock, Red Star substitute Marko Gobeljic received a straight red card from Greek referee Georgios Kyzas for afoul on Vella. Six minutes from time, Ignacio Varela scored a deserved equaliser from Juninho’s cross but the Argentine striker marred his evening as he was sent off for making an inappropriate gesture during his goal celebrations. Crvena zvezda meet FC Irtysh Pavlodar, of Kazakhstan, in the next round.