A battling Bala Town display was not enough, as the Welsh side were eliminated from the UEFA Europa League by a professional and clinical Standard Liege team in their second round qualifier at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne.
The Lakesiders, who put in a brave performance, ultimately fell short against the 10-time Belgian league winners.
Felipe Avenatti gave the hosts the lead from the penalty spot. Bala’s captain Chris Venables then earnt the visitors a penalty of their own, but the experienced forward agonisingly missed it.
The superb Salim Amallah then added to their lead in the first-half to put the hosts in command of the tie.
They then controlled large parts of the second-half to eliminate the final Welsh side from European competition this season, with Connah’s Quay Nomads being knocked out by Georgian outfit Dinamo Tbilisi earlier on this evening.
Bala, however, can take heart from this and be proud of their efforts, which would have no doubt pleased their manager Colin Caton hugely.
They will now turn their attention back to the Cymru Premier League. They face-off against Cefn Druids at Maes Tegid this Sunday.
In a frantic start to the game, it was Standard Liege who started with real purpose and Amallah found himself in acres of space to test Bala’s Alex Ramsay in the opening seconds of the game.
The visitors would respond almost instantaneously with a chance of their own, though. Raul Correia did excellent to create an opportunity from nothing, but his effort was stopped by the feet of Liege’s goalkeeper, Arnaud Bodard.
Amallah, the Moroccan playmaker continued to cause Bala problems in the first-half and he combined well with Michel Ange Balikwisha, to get the ball back into the box, but his first-time volley diverted just wide.
Liege continued to pressure the Bala back-line and were awarded a penalty, due to their sustained attacking threat. This was converted by Felipe Avenatti, who finished coolly, low into the corner, to give Ramsay no chance.
However, for all of Les Rouches attacking prowess, Bala were still a threat themselves going forward and following excellent work from captain Chris Venables, he earnt his side a penalty.
From the resulting spot-kick, Venables saw his attempt saved, after Arnaud Bodard guessed right and stretched out to prevent the visitors from equalising.
Liege would then make Bala pay for that missed opportunity, as the impressive Amallah saw his effort from outside the box find the back of the net, to put Les Rouches in command of the game.
They almost made it 3-0 before the break, too. The ball fell kindly into the path of Mehdi Carcela, but he saw his effort divert just wide of the mark.
Liege continued to press in the second-half, as they looked to kill the game off.
Carcela found himself in all kinds of space outside the area, following a poor clearance from Nathan Peate, but his weak effort drifted wide.
The game started to fizzle out just after the hour mark, as Liege’s experience of playing consistently at this level shone through, comfortably booking their place in the third round of qualification in the UEFA Europa League in the process.
Man of the Match (Selim Amallah, Standard Liege)
An outstanding performance from the Moroccan playmaker. He caused Bala’s backline problems all evening, and scored Liege’s second goal of the evening, albeit from a deflection.
His creative zest and trickery was a joy to watch on times. He will now be key for the Belgians moving forward in Europe this season.
Standard Liege starting XI: Arnaud Bodart, Collins Fai, Zinho Vanheusden, Kontstantinos Laifis, Nicolas Gavory, Michel Ange Balikwisha, Gojko Cimirot, Shamir, Selim Amallah, Mehdi Carcela, Felipe Avenatti.
Subsitutes: Henkinet, Noe Dussenne, Duje Cop, Obbi Oulare, Jackson Muleka, Merveille Bokadi, Nicolas Raksin.
Bala Town starting XI: Alex Ramsey, Will Evans, Jonny Spittle, Raul Correia, Lassana Mendes, Sean Smith, Steven Leslie, Anthony Kay, Chris Venables, Nathan Peate, Oliver Shannon.
Substitutes: Harri Lloyd, Andrew Burns, Anthony Stephens, Lee Molyneux, Henry Jones, Kieran Smith, Llyr Morris.
Goals: (F. Avenatti 19′ (P), S. Amallah 34′)
Recap all of tonight’s action from the Stade Maurice Dufrasne below.
(Featured Image: Vberger)
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