Hapoel Be'er Sheva vs Sabah FK

H. Beer Sheva came from behind to beat Sabah Baku 2-1 in the first leg of their Champions League play-off, with a late second-half winner completing the turnaround at a neutral Arena Giulești in Bucharest. Sabah struck first through Veljko Simić, continuing his prolific run in this year's qualifiers by opening the scoring inside six minutes. Beer Sheva responded before the break, with Javon East leveling things in the 43rd minute to send the sides in level at halftime. The decisive moment came in the 79th minute when Igor Zlatanović, fresh off his goal in the win over Red Star Belgrade, struck to put the Israeli side ahead for good. The result leaves Beer Sheva firmly in control ahead of the return leg in Baku on August 25, needing only to avoid a heavy defeat to reach the Champions League league phase. Sabah, in strong recent form, now must overturn the deficit on the road.