Azerbaijan's football club Sabah secured a 2:0 victory over Czech side Slavia Prague in the second round of the UEFA Champions League main stage. Uzbekistan national team midfielder Umarali Rahmonaliev started for the Azerbaijani side and played a crucial role throughout the fixture. In the opening half, the hosts initially found the back of the net, but Kahim Perris's goal was disallowed following a VAR review due to an offside violation. Slavia also created several dangerous scoring opportunities, yet Sabah goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov maintained a clean sheet, sending both teams into halftime locked in a goalless draw.
Early in the second half, specifically in the 49th minute, Sabah finally broke the deadlock. Croatian midfielder Hrvoje Lepinica delivered a cross from the left flank, allowing Perris to tap the ball home from close range. Near the end of the match, in the 88th minute, Joy-Lance Mikels doubled the hosts' advantage. Capitalizing on a poor clearance from Slavia goalkeeper Markovitch outside his penalty area, the Sabah player intercepted the ball and struck it accurately from long distance into an unguarded net.
According to data provided by ESPN, Uzbekistan international Umarali Rahmonaliev put on an impressive display against Slavia. Throughout the match, he registered 58 touches and unleashed two shots, both of which hit the target. His expected goals (xG) metric stood at 0.29, while expected assists (xA) reached 0.47. Furthermore, the Uzbek midfielder completed five interceptions and engaged in eight duels. Notably, Rahmonaliev covered the most distance of any player on the pitch, running 12.71 kilometers compared to his closest competitor's 11.42 km.
To recap, Sabah advanced through four qualifying rounds to reach the Champions League main stage for the first time in their history in August 2026. During the play-off round, the Azerbaijani club overcame Israel's Apoel 5:2 (6:4 on aggregate), with Rahmonaliev scoring one of the goals. The midfielder has been representing Sabah since January 2025, initially joining on loan from Rubin Kazan before the club permanently acquired his transfer in January 2026. Having lost their opening Champions League fixture to English side Manchester United, Sabah are set to face Borussia Dortmund in their next tournament match on October 20.
Source: www.gazeta.uz