Gzira U                0
Radnicki Nis        1

Gzira U: A. Curmi, Z. Scerri, R. Soares, A. Cohen (E. Okoye 65 min), J. Corbolan (C. Sammut 83 min), C. Gatt Baldacchino, E. Bilbao, R. Briffa, Jorginho (L. Brincat 75 min), S. Borg, T. Veronese

Radnicki: M. Zivkovic, R. Pankov, A. Todorovski, M. Mrkic, A. Stanisavljevic, D. Crnomarkovic (T. Bondarenko 35 min), N. Haskic (S. Nikodijevic 63 min), P. Grbic (A. Jovanovic 46 min), D. Micic, R. Noma, N. Stankovic

Referee: Suren Baliyan (Armenia)

Ass.referees: E. Arevshatyan, V. Simonyan

Fourth official: Artak Simonyan

Scorers: R. Pankov 7 min

Yellow cards: E. Okoye, N. Stankovic

Attendance: 509

A Pankov header in the opening minutes gave Radnicki a slender 1-0 victory over Gzira, with the Serbian side advancing to the next stage with a 5-0 aggregate. Frankly the match lost much of its interest after the first leg scoreline, and the early goal that eventually decided the match, completely erased any residual hopes the Maroons might have had of a stunning comeback.

The match never reached high standards. Radnicki, without impressing much, were still the better side throughout the match. Gzira made a bold effort to earn at least a prestigious result, but it was not to be, with the best chance missed by Jorginho in the first half.

Radnicki had a couple of chances in front of goal in the first part of the match, but they faded out in the second half and Curmi was never really called in action.

At the start of the match Rodrick Briffa was presented with a Gzira jersey donning the number 41 - the matches played by Briffa in European competitions in his career, which is a record for a Maltese player in club competitions. He played 27 of these matches with Valletta, ten with Birkirkara and four with the Maroons.

Gzira were down by the seventh minute when a Stanisavljevic freekick was met on the far post by Radovan Pankov who headed past Curmi.

Six minutes later Radnicki were close to a second goal when Haskic passed to the completely unmarked Stanisavljevic whose point blank effort destined for the back of the net was deflected by defender Zach Scerri.

Gzira were in apparent suffering at the back and Curmi had to charge out of position to block Haskic who was inadvertently served by a Veronese back pass.

On 23 minutes Gzira had a golden opportunity when Jorginho put through by Briffa, missed an easy chance in front of goal shooting weakly straight in Zivkovic'c direction.

On 31 minutes a Cohen freekick was headed over the bar by Soares and on the other Radnicki missed a sitter when Petar Grbic failed to hit home in front of goal following a Pankov header.

The second half was less intense, with Radnicki controlling the game and with the Maroons trying to at least get an equaliser. However, Jorginho was isolated upfront, and many a times caught in an offside position.

Briffa tried his luck from a distance but his shot was off target. The inclusion of Okoye in attack immediately created some danger and a Jorginho shot travelled across the face of goal before finishing just wide.

On 73 minutes Mrkic had a good run on the left flank but his shot went wide. Just before the final whistle Gzira almost levelled when a Luca Brincat header just missed the upright.