A gritty, battling Kairat Almaty finally met their match last night as they were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by Anderlect, from Belgium.
After conceding just two minutes into the match, the Kazakh side struggled to get back level despite threatening several times in the opening half an hour. Edmilson failed to convert either of his two half chances, while a powerful shot from the Finn Oiva Jukkola was saved by the visiting goalkeeper.
The game was ultimately lost either side of these half chances, as Lukáš Ambros doubled the Anderlecht lead by slotting home in the 24th minute, while towards half time, Kairat were reduced to ten when Aleksandr Shirobokov was sent off for a challenge on Danylo Sikan. VAR led the referee to revise his original decision about the tackle, the yellow promptly changed to a red.
Making the numerical advantage count, Anderlecht then made it 3-0 on the stroke of half time and sat the second half out, meaning that the Kazakhstani team now has a mountain to climb to reverse the deficit when they play in Belgium on 27 August.
After last year’s miracle run to the Champions League, Kairat Almaty understand the value of European competition to Kazakhstani football, and will head to Belgium every bit up for the challenge of making it to the Europa League.
Most fans, by now, consider the UEFA Conference League to be the most likely outcome, still a worthwhile adventure for a yet growing footballing culture.
