FK Liepāja will head to Vienna next week with a mountain to climb after falling to a 0-2 home defeat against Austrian side Austria Wien in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League second qualifying round tie at Sloka Stadium in Jūrmala.
Despite producing an encouraging performance for large spells and creating several promising opportunities, the Latvian side were unable to find the breakthrough, while Austria Wien punished the hosts with a goal in each half to seize control of the tie.
Liepāja made the brighter start and enjoyed the majority of possession during the opening stages. Joseph Ede Oloko had the first clear opportunity after finding space inside the penalty area, but failed to make clean contact with the ball, while Abiodun Ogunniyi forced the visiting goalkeeper into action with a powerful long-range effort after winning possession in midfield.
Austria Wien, meanwhile, were content to absorb pressure before making their quality count from their first genuine chance of the evening. A well-worked free-kick routine ended with captain Manfred Fischer picking out Florian Wustinger, who fired an unstoppable finish into the roof of the net to give the Austrian side the lead.
The Latvian club continued to push forward before the break, winning a succession of corner kicks, but struggled to test the goalkeeper despite spending long periods in the opposition half.
The visitors doubled their advantage less than ten minutes into the second half. Following a chaotic sequence inside the penalty area, substitute Moritz Wels saw his first effort blocked but reacted quickest to convert the rebound and make it 2-0.
Austria Wien continued to threaten as the second half progressed, although Liepāja’s defence managed to withstand further pressure.
Liepāja continued to search for a way back into the match and almost reduced the deficit 12 minutes from time when Andriy Korobenko delivered an excellent cross for Joseph Ede Oloko, but the striker’s effort from close range was brilliantly blocked by the Austrian defence.
The hosts were denied once again in the closing moments. Deep inside stoppage time, substitute Roberts Untulis found himself in a crowded penalty area with a golden chance to score, but his close-range effort was blocked as Austria Wien preserved their two-goal advantage.
Liepāja will now travel to the Austrian capital for next Thursday’s return leg, needing to overturn a 0-2 deficit to keep their European campaign alive.
FK Liepāja vs Austria Wien – 0-2 (0-1)
Goals: Wustinger 31′ Wels 55′
