FYR Macedonia strike late to beat Luxembourg
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Article summary
FYR Macedonia 3-2 Luxembourg
Besart Abdurahimi produced a finish worthy of winning any game as Bosko Gjurovski's men earned three Group C points at the death.
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• Great Besart Abdurahimi goal wins it for FYR Macedonia
• Aleksandar Trajkovski gives home side 20th-minute lead
• Stefano Bensi free-kick and David Turpel strike turn tables
• Adis Jahović penalty restores parity on 66 minutes
• Ukraine v FYR Macedonia, Luxembourg v Spain (12 October)
Besart Abdurahimi pulled out all the stops with a splendid finish deep into added time as FYR Macedonia came back from 2-1 down to beat Luxembourg in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group C.
The KSC Lokeren OV winger steadied himself out on the left before looping a powerful drive over Jonathan Joubert, giving Luc Holtz's side no time to respond. It was a cruel finish for Luxembourg, who had responded positively to going behind in the first half, and continued to threaten even after Adis Jahović's 66th-minute penalty cancelled out their half-time lead.
Aleksandar Trajkovski had gone close before sweeping FYR Macedonia in front on 20 minutes, gathering Joubert's punt upfield and weaving through the Luxembourg defence to finish in some style. However, Stefano Bensi replied by bending a free-kick inside Tome Pacovski's left-hand post on 39 minutes and then nodded the ball on for David Turpel to peel off to the right and send an angled shot through the exposed goalkeeper's legs before the interval.
Bosko Gjurovski's men rallied, Daniel Mojsov, Abdurahimi and Stefan Ristovski all missing the target from decent positions before Chris Philipps's foul on Abdurahimi invited Jahović to send Joubert the wrong way from the penalty spot. It was anyone's game thereafter, Jahović and Luxembourg's Maurice Deville both missing presentable chances before Abdurahimi provided the grandstand finish.