UEFA Champions League: FC Saburtalo 0-2 Dinamo Zagreb
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
TBILISI, 23 July 2019 – Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb have won the first leg of their 2019–20 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round tie against FC Saburtalo 2-0 in Georgia on Tuesday.
A 67th minute header from Mislav Orsic and a penalty from Croatian international Bruno Petkovic ten minutes later gave Dinamo an important victory at the Mikheil Meskhi stadium.
The hosts started the match aggressively and the opening ten minutes belonged to them. Dinamo looked nervous early on and it would not be until the 25th minute mark that they would threaten the FC Saburtalo goal when Amer Gojak had a chance saved.
Mario Gavranovic then had a great chance to open the scoring in the 39th minute but his shot was blocked when he had men free. Dinamo were the much stronger side in the second half and they finally went ahead when Orsic headed home after good work from Izet Hajrovic.
In the 77th minute Dinamo would double the lead when Petkovic converted a spot kick after Orsic was brought down in the box.
Although Dinamo were not at their best, they have secured an important win away which will please coach Nenad Bjelica. The return leg will be played at Zagreb’s Maksimir stadium next week.