Partizan Stuns Tobol in Stoppage Time, Faces Getafe Next

Seventh minute in Kostanay, a cross comes in from the left and Islam Chesnokov meets it first time, a volley that beats Krunic. The home fans jump to their feet, the scoreboard reads 1-0, and Partizan concede for the first time in this year’s European qualifiers.

Tobol looked like a different team than the one Partizan had faced twelve days earlier in Humska. Instead of long balls into empty space, the Kazakh side built its attacks with patience, pressed the visitors’ back line and sent two or three players into the box at a time. For the Belgrade club, it was the first real resistance it had met since entering Europe this summer.

The first half was Partizan’s weakest of the campaign by the numbers too. The visitors managed just one shot on target, Bogdan Kostic’s effort in the 19th minute, which the home goalkeeper cleared from behind his own goal line. Erik Kojzek had a chance in the 11th minute after a pass from Trifunovic, but the ball went past the post. At the other end, Tobol forced Krunic into a save for a corner through Gera in the 13th minute, and Chesnokov nearly doubled the lead around the 31st minute.

The return leg of the third qualifying round for the Conference League was played on August 13 in Kazakhstan and ended in a 2-1 win for Partizan. Since the first leg in Belgrade finished 3-0, the aggregate score for the tie stands at 5-1. Sasa Ilic started the match with Krunic in goal, Roganovic, Simic, Mitrovic and Djurdjevic in defense, Vukotic just ahead of them, Seka, Alilovic, Kostic and Trifunovic in midfield and Kojzek up front.

What changed at halftime?

Three substitutions at once. Coming out of the break, Ilic brought on Zubairu, Ze and Zekovic, and the match changed complexion in the first minute of the second half.

Stefan Mitrovic headed the ball toward goal in the 47th minute. The Tobol goalkeeper caught it, but only after it had already crossed the line. The referee did not point to the center circle at first. Only once goal line technology confirmed the ball had fully crossed did the Italian official stop play and award the goal.

All three substitutes left their mark:

• Zubairu, who forced a save from the home goalkeeper for a corner in the 60th minute and later set up the winning goal
• Ze, who had a chance to complete the turnaround on the break in the 52nd minute but could not finish it off
• Zekovic, who spent the closing stages alongside Traore keeping Tobol’s defense under pressure

The equalizer freed Partizan up, and the following twenty minutes were their best spell of the match. Vukotic fired just over the crossbar from twenty meters out in the 54th minute, Zubairu missed from close range, and Kostic lifted a shot over the bar from inside the box. The home side had a chance to punish all of that through Milovanovic in the 71st minute, but Krunic made the save. Zuev got into the box and hit a weak shot in the 89th minute, and Seka wasted a clear chance late in regulation time, coming away with only a corner.

Then came the second minute of stoppage time. Zubairu played the ball through, Saka Traore found the net for 2-1, and handed Partizan its fourth straight European win of the summer.

What is next for Partizan

The playoff round pits Partizan against Spain’s Getafe. The first leg is away, on August 20, in a suburb of Madrid, and the return leg follows on August 27 in Humska. This is the stage at which a place in the Conference League group phase gets decided.

Of the 22 players named for the trip to Kazakhstan, a squad list covered here ahead of the departure, Ilic got an answer to the question that likely mattered most to him: his bench delivers. The first half in Kostanay was a warning that a team cannot get by on a single shot on target against opponents who press. Against Getafe, who play exactly that way in Spain, that lesson is worth more than the 5-1 aggregate score.