Derry City's Europa League dreams were dashed as they were sent packing from the qualifiers by CSKA Sofia. The Candystripes were defeated 2-1 at the Brandywell, with trouble in the stands causing a delay in the match.
What happened?
The match was delayed for almost 15 minutes after visiting CSKA fans threw missiles towards Derry City fans in the Southend Park stand. Hundreds of Derry fans were forced onto the pitch as officials and stewards worked to diffuse the situation. The PSNI entered the stadium behind the stand, but thankfully weren't needed.
Why it matters for Derry City
The defeat means that Derry City will drop into the Uefa Conference League, where Croatian side HNK Rijeka await. The Candystripes were hoping to make a strong start to their Europa League campaign, but instead, they will have to regroup and focus on their domestic league form.
What comes next?
Derry City will now turn their attention to their domestic league form, where they currently sit 2nd in the League of Ireland Premier, 63 points from 36 games, with a recent form of WWWWD. They are 3 points behind leaders Shamrock Rovers and will look to close the gap in their next match.
Derry City's goalscorer in Sofia, Liam Boyce, missed out on the match, while Cameron Dummigan and Rob Slevin dropped to the bench. The Bulgarians were without their Belarusian duo, goalkeeper Fedor Lapoukhov and midfielder Max Ebong, who were denied visas to travel.
The match was a closely contested affair, with both sides creating chances. Derry City's best outlet on the right was Portuguese winger Kevin dos Santos, who was sent scampering clear on 12 minutes. However, the Bulgarians were sharpest in the second half, with Angelo Martino's half volley bouncing across goal but just wide of the far post.
The match was eventually won by CSKA Sofia, with French winger Mohamed Brahimi firing to the net from close range to seal the victory. The Bulgarians advance to the second round while Derry drop into the Uefa Conference League.
Derry City: Maher; Barr, Grogan (Stott 90), P. McClean, Fleming; Cotter, O'Reilly, Olayinka (Dummigan 90), Chapman (Clarke 80), Dos Santos (Twisk 45); Duffy.
CSKA Sofia: Evtimov; Pastor, Jordao, Sensi, Godoy (Zwarts 72), Ivanov, Martino, Pittas (Brahimi 103), Panayotov (Eto'o 72), Rodriguez, Solet (Gbamin 79).
Referee: J Sabotic (Lux).
The Candystripes will now look to regroup and focus on their domestic league form, where they currently sit 2nd in the League of Ireland Premier, 63 points from 36 games, with a recent form of WWWWD. They are 3 points behind leaders Shamrock Rovers and will look to close the gap in their next match. Derry City's next match is against HNK Rijeka in the Uefa Conference League, where they will look to make a strong start to their campaign.
