Cork City have been eliminated from the Champions League at the first round as they were defeated by a classy Legia Warsaw side 4-0 on aggregate. Trailing 1-0 from the first leg at Turners Cross, City knew they had a difficult task when they travel
Cork City have been eliminated from the Champions League at the first round as they were defeated by a classy Legia Warsaw side 4-0 on aggregate.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg at Turners Cross, City knew they had a difficult task when they travelled to the Polish Army Stadium in Warsaw if they were to progress to the second qualifying stage.
And they fell behind midway through the first half as Jose Kante slotted Carlos Dias’ hooked cross from the end line past Shane Griffin on the line with Peter Cherrie stranded. City went close to levelling the scores on the night but Graham Cummins couldn’t direct his diving header on target when in space inside the box.
But Legia’s class eventually told as they doubled their lead when Miroslav Radovic drilled his penalty into the top left corner having been fouled inside the area by Conor McCormack.
Warsaw introduced new signing Carlos Lopes, who finished top goal scorer in the Polish League last season, for his competitive debut and he duly made it 3-0 in the closing stages.
The striker finished brilliantly into the top right corner when picked out inside the area to send his side through to the next round in convincing style, sending Cork City to the third round of the Europa League qualifiers in the process.
