Sabah win 5-2 in extra time and Azerbaijani football makes history for the second time

The first leg was in Bucharest. At Romania's Giulești stadium, Sabah lost 1-2. Which meant that today, in the return leg in Baku, the job was not simple: beat Hapoel Be'er Sheva by at least two clear goals.

It did not finish in 90 minutes. Sabah had the score at 3-1 by the 90th minute — 4-3 on aggregate, enough to go through. Then Hapoel scored again deep into stoppage time, levelling the aggregate at 4-4. The match went to extra time.

In extra time, Sabah scored twice more. Final score: 5-2. Aggregate: 6-4. Hapoel's defender E. Peretz was sent off in the 117th minute.

Sabah's goals came from J. Mickels, O. Mbina and T. Mutallimov.

This is not just one result.

Only one Azerbaijani club has ever reached the Champions League league phase: Qarabağ, in 2017, advancing past Copenhagen in the play-off on away goals after losing the tie. Qarabağ has repeated that since, and has faced clubs including Chelsea, Liverpool and Ajax.

If tonight's win holds (official confirmation is pending), this is only the second time in Azerbaijani history that a club from the country has reached the Champions League league phase — and because Qarabağ is already there this season, it would be the first time EVER that two Azerbaijani clubs play in Europe's top club competition in the same season.

What that means is simple: before 2017, the Champions League was a distant idea for Azerbaijani football. It is now a result that can repeat — and, tonight, that doubled.

Sabah's coach Valdas Dambrauskas said before the match that he believed his side would beat Hapoel. Hapoel's coach Ran Kojuk had called Sabah the favourite. Both turned out to be right — just not in the way either expected: Hapoel picked the right favourite, and the favourite delivered.