UEFA Europa League, round 3 qualifying stage, first leg
Venue: Partizan Stadium
Kick-off time: 8pm CET
Referee: Sander van der Eijk (NED)
Yellow cards: Zubairu (PAR) – Bislimi (LUG)
GOALS: 0-1 `73 Zanotti
Teams:
PARTIZAN
A Jovanovic, de Medina, Markovic, Mujakic, Jurcevic, Arriaga, Zahid (Nikolic 79), Zubairu ( Goh HT), Severina (Grimaldo 58), Kalulu (Natcho 58), Saldanha ( D Jovanovic 74)
LUGANO
Saipi, Zanotti, Papadopoulos, El Wafi, Valenzuela, Belhadj (Dos Santos 68), Grgic, Aliseda, Cimignani (Doumbia 68), Bislimi (Macek 90), Przybylko (Mahou 55)
Partizan lost 1-0 home to Lugano in a UEFA Europa round 3 qualifier first leg.
Partizan boss Stanojevic opted for more pace in the attack, fielding Zubairu on the left flank and Kalulu centrally, behind striker Saldanha.
Early in the game, Partizan showed attacking promise, Saldanha sent an angled drive wide followed by close range blast over the bar from Kalulu after a brilliant long ball behind Lugano defence from Arriaga.
Visitors enjoyed possession from the go and threatened via distance shots mostly but they didn`t trouble keeper Jovanovic much. Forward Przybylko had a good opportunity but he blasted the ball over the bar with his unmarked and angled shot inside the box.
Zubairu was carelessly cautioned on 29 while Saldanha made a number of breaks and deserved at least one edge-of-the-box free-kick for his efforts.
Best opportunity of the first half was missed by Severina who had only Lugano keeper to beat but failed to chip the ball over the goalie who made a decisive save.
Lugano kept trying from the distance but it remained goalless at half-time.
Stanojevic introduced Goh for Zubairu for the second half. On 53, Partizan made penalty claims as it appeared Kalulu was fouled inside the box, there was no reaction from the ref or the VAR room. Kalulu also had a promising shot inside the box blocked after a fine ball from Goh.
Natcho and Grimaldo came in for Kalulu and Severina on 58.
Lugano scored on 73 from one of the many distance shots. This time around, it was accurate shot into the bottom left corner from Zanotti.
Saldanha was subbed by D Jovanovic on 74 and Nikolic came in for Zahid on 79.
Final Partizan opportunity of the game fell to Grimaldo but his low shot inside the box and towards the right corner of the net was met by tip-of-the-finger save from keeper Saipi.
Visitors had two opportunities before the final whistle but keeper Jovanovic was up to the task.
Partizan will play SSL round 4 fixture away to IMT on Sunday before meeting with Lugano away for a UEL reverse fixture next Thursday.
