Spirited Maltese hold Boavista

Hibernians FC 3-3 Boavista FC (Boavista win 7-3 on aggregate)
Maltese champions Hibernians FC produced a spirited display to hold Boavista FC to a 3-3 draw in tonight's second leg, but it is the Portuguese side who advance to a UEFA Champions League third qualifying round meeting with French side AJ Auxerre.

First to strike
Boavista, group stage participants last season, were afforded the luxury of resting some of their bigger names after last week's 4-0 victory in Porto, but they were still the first team to strike, Brazilian midfield player Jocivalter Liberato scoring on 28 minutes.

Mifsud leveller
However, striker Adrian Mifsud levelled after a defensive blunder by the Boavista defence gave him the perfect opening to slot past captain and goalkeeper Ricardo. Boavista, though, shrugged off the fightback and struck again on 38 minutes when Luiz Claudio Soares De Barros headed in a cross.

Ndubisi on target
Paulo Turra's goal made it 3-1 at half-time, at which point Boavista were coasting. Spurred on by a vociferous home faithful, Hibernians came out fighting after the break and the deficit was reduced on 52 minutes when in-form Nigerian forward Chuckunyere Ndubisi struck his third goal in four Champions League outings.

'Positive result'
After Mifsud had scored again, a morale-boosting equaliser, Hibernians attacked at will but several late efforts were thwarted. "It was a very difficult game right from the start, but we were determined to get a positive result for our loyal fans," said Mifsud. "I think it was quite a fair result for both sides."