Saint-Etienne 1 : 1 Qarabag - Battling draw for St Etienne

Posted Friday, November 28, 2014 by PA

St Etienne and Karabakh battled out a 1-1 draw in Europa League Group F on Thursday evening that kept both sides in contention for the knockout phase.

Vuqar Nadirov put the Azerbaijani visitors ahead with a brilliant lob in the 15th minute, but the lead was short-lived as Ricky van Wolfswinkel stabbed home an equaliser six minutes later.

The result ensured both sides will enter the final round of matches next month - St Etienne visit Dnipro and Karabakh host Inter Milan - in with a chance of finishing second behind Inter in the pool.

Karabakh secured the first group-stage victory by an Azerbaijani side in UEFA competition on matchday three when they won 1-0 at Dnipro, and looked on course to earn a second after taking a 15th-minute lead.

Nadirov controlled Maksim Medvedev's long ball on his chest and despatched a superb lob over Stephane Ruffier from the edge of the box to put the visitors in the ascendancy, but they were ahead for only six minutes.

Romain Hamouma's half-volley was pushed out by Karabakh goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic, but Van Wolfswinkel was on hand to pounce on the rebound.

The hosts looked the more likely of the two teams to find a winner in the second half, but could not find a way past Sehic.

Fabien Lemoine lashed over for Les Verts and Kevin Theophile-Catherine had a long-range blast caught by the visiting keeper, while Van Wolfswinkel connected with a Max Gradel cross but sent his effort wide.

Moustapha Bayal Sall tried his luck from distance 17 minutes from time for the French side, but saw his attempt tipped over the bar by Sehic.

There was one last chance in the closing stages and it fell for Gradel, but he could only head over the bar from a Yohann Mollo corner.