Basel snatch last-gasp equaliser to force extra time in Bratislava and win on penalties
A fast start appeared essential for Basel to avoid elimination, but it was Slovan making the early running and providing a warning inside six minutes, when Aleksandar Cavric slotted in Malik Abubakari, who failed to properly connect with his shot and saw it well saved.
Abubakari wasn’t made to rue that miss though, as he was on the scoresheet moments later when Basel failed to deal with a routine corner, and the Ghanaian was quickest to react to a loose ball inside the area, stabbing home from close range.
That lead would be doubled in devastating fashion just seven minutes later, as a lightning-quick counterattack split the Basel defence.
After yet again failing to clear their lines, the Swiss outfit were punished by Juraj Kucka, who slotted into the bottom corner for 2-0. And that is how it stayed up to halftime, leaving Heiko Vogel’s men needing an early goal in the second half to keep their hopes of a comeback alive.
With just their second shot on target, Basel's wish was granted by an unlikely source in the 53rd minute. Centre-back Riccardo Calafiori provided a striker’s finish, beautifully stroking a left-footed volley into the bottom corner to reignite the tie.
A Basel comeback never looked like materialising after that, until a speculative effort from Amdouni deep into stoppage time rescued the Swiss outfit. Left in space in the middle of the field, the attacking midfielder unleashed and deceived the goalkeeper with the bounce of the ball to send the tie into extra time.
Basel’s sucker punch took the sting out of their hosts, while they continued to offer very little in attack themselves, meaning a penalty shootout was inevitable.
Slovan made the first move before the end of extra time, introducing substitute goalkeeper Martin Trnovsky, but their plan was in tatters almost immediately as veteran Basel shot-stopper Marwin Hitz saved both their first two spot-kicks, reacting brilliantly to deny Kucka and Tigran Barseghyan.
Darian Males converted the decisive strike from 12 yards to complete a 4-1 rout in the shootout and send Basel into the last eight.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marwin Hitz (Basel)