Ħamrun suffer defeat in Conference League debut

Ħamrun Spartans’ historic foray into the UEFA Europa Conference League league phase ended in disappointment on Thursday, as they were edged 1–0 by Jagiellonia Białystok in Białystok.

The match was tightly contested for much of the 90 minutes, but a decisive moment came in the 57th minute, when Jesús Imaz curled a strike into the bottom corner from outside the box, after a pass from Afimico Pululu, putting the hosts ahead.

Just five minutes later, Ħamrun suffered a major blow: Joseph Mbong was shown a straight red card in the 62nd minute, forcing the Maltese side to play with ten men for the remainder of the match.

Down to ten, Ħamrun’s task became even more difficult, but they pushed forward in search of an equalizer. Their best chance came after a corner in the 72nd minute: N’Dri Koffi’s shot was saved by Jagiellonia’s goalkeeper, Slawomir Abramowicz.

With this opening-round result, Ħamrun fall to the bottom of their group without a point.

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