Saburalo beat Larn 2:1 after extra time in the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round on Monday. The hosts held firm after a late equaliser sent the match beyond the ninety minutes. It ended a run of draws against the same opposition, having shared a goalless draw just days earlier.
V. Bedoshvili put the hosts ahead in the seventy-fourth minute, and Larn responded quickly through J. Simpson. That sixty-eighth-minute strike from the visitors levelled things, and the match went to extra time. Then came the decisive moment: N. Sikharulashvili struck in the hundred-and-second minute to seal the win.
There were plenty of interruptions. Three substitutions arrived together in the sixty-fifth minute, then more came as the game stretched. Saburalo brought on B. Kardava and V. Bedoshvili in the seventy-seventh minute, while Larn responded with D. Sloan and M. Lusty. The final whistle came after one hundred and fifteen minutes of action.
The statistics told a familiar story. Saburalo held sixty-eight per cent possession and registered eleven corners to Larn's single corner. They took ten shots against five from the visitors, though only five found the target on either side. Larn committed twenty-seven fouls compared to nineteen, suggesting they were chasing the game.
Saburalo now advance while Larn must regroup. The hosts have shown they can hold their nerve when the pressure builds, something they'll need as the competition tightens. The goal difference matters less than the fact they've moved forward.