Victory against Dinamo Minsk not enough to keep the Imps in Europa League

Lincoln Red Imps 2-1 Dinamo Minsk
(Minsk win 3-2 on aggregate)

A windy Levante day awaited Lincoln Red Imps as they hosted Dinamo Minsk at Europa Point in the second leg of the Europa League third qualifying round. Two goals down from the first leg, Lincoln entered the match with some confidence, having played an impressive first half in Hungary before conceding two goals later in the match.

Nano, one of the first leg’s protagonists, believed they should have come back with more and could overturn the result if they found the right approach from the start. With heavy gusts blowing, both teams needed to adjust to the conditions. An unchanged lineup for Lincoln Red Imps saw Javi Munoz place his confidence in his squad. Early incursions into Minsk’s half placed the Belarusian side under pressure.

With just four minutes played, three balls into the Belarusian penalty box forced a panicky clearance from the keeper, maintaining the momentum for Lincoln. Dinamo Minsk sought to slow down Lincoln’s pace in those early minutes as the hosts searched for an early breakthrough. Some deep, desperate defending from Minsk denied Lincoln a chance to hit the target.

In the seventh minute, a shot at goal tested the keeper, providing Lincoln with a corner. Played short, Lincoln lost their early opportunity to test the keeper again. Lincoln’s pressure continued with a floated ball to the back post, sent goalward with a header down, only to be cleared by the keeper’s quick reflex save. The subsequent header towards goal ended up over the bar.

Minsk looked vulnerable in these early moments, defending deep and unable to get any flowing play to test Lincoln’s defense. Minsk’s first real test of Lincoln’s defense came from a speculative shot from distance that went safely wide of the goal.

The visitors started to settle into the match as they reached the first half hour and found more space to move their lines forward, adding some pressure on Lincoln’s defense, although it was still Lincoln driving the match forward.

At the half-hour mark, Tjay De Barr, who had broken through the center with Lee Casciaro, saw a return pass from Casciaro to the top of the box, which he volleyed past Lapoukhov. Lincoln increased the pressure on the visitors as they narrowed the deficit.

Having finally cracked Minsk’s defense after 120 minutes of play, Lincoln searched for the equalizer while slowing down the pace a bit, which allowed Minsk a chance to prod at their defense.

Playing with the wind against them, Lincoln continued to dominate as they entered the final ten minutes of the first half. Minsk did have a chance to test Santana with a corner, but the keeper was well up to the task, collecting with ease and setting De Barr on an attempted quick counter. A frustrated Minsk defense gave away a foul close to the top of the penalty box, but the floated ball was easily curled for Lapoukhov to collect.

A speculative shot by Toni in the 41st minute was easily saved by Lapoukhov as Lincoln failed to finish their chances. Some miscommunication between Casciaro and De Barr saw chances missed to break through on goal with passes going astray. Casciaro was to test Lapoukhov just moments before the first half whistle, with a low cross from the left met by the Lincoln forward and directed to the near post, forcing the keeper to save.

The second half started energetically, with some harsh tackles and both teams showing initial urgency to dominate possession. With the wind now at Lincoln’s back, Minsk had an extra element to contend with when trying their long balls forward. The early minutes saw Lincoln struggle to get their fluidity going forward, which allowed the visitors to test their defense. A surging run was stopped with a foul, allowing Minsk a chance in the 51st minute to test with a free kick, the shot curling just wide of the near post.

Gaining confidence, Minsk put a ball across goal, which was missed by an oncoming forward by inches. Just two minutes later, what looked like a half-chance lost saw Alfred turn on the spot and send a low shot between the keeper and the post. Minsk’s equalizer put Lincoln back on the same footing as they had started, with a two-goal deficit. Once again, Lincoln’s first-half performance was overshadowed by Minsk’s second-half gameplay.

Minsk gained confidence and immediately placed pressure upon Lincoln’s defense. As tensions rose, a foul in the 63rd minute on Bent saw the Minsk bench react, forcing the referee to show a yellow card to one of the members of the bench. A free kick in the 65th minute looked as if it had gone in as the ball hit the side netting. The initial cheers for a goal were met with immediate disappointment as Lincoln continued to be unable to find the net.

As the minutes ticked away, the visitors threatened to put the tie out of Lincoln’s reach with several chances to break the deadlock. With twenty minutes left on the clock, Javi Munoz made two further substitutions, adding fresh legs as he tried to inject some urgency into his side. Valarino was immediately in action, but it was Minsk who dominated the offensive game. Santana, with the sun in his eyes, saw a free kick cross flicked over his bar from a header. Again, losing the ball, Lincoln had to defend once more.

Stealing at the back and building from there, a long cross down the right flank ended with a cross from the touchline across the penalty area, which was well struck by De Barr. The Lincoln forward got his brace, once again putting Lincoln a goal behind on aggregate with twelve minutes left to play. Bent, who had only come on during the second half, was to receive a yellow card.

With seven minutes left, a header from Kike went just over the bar. Calls for a penalty were ignored in the 85th minute, with Minsk instead earning a free kick, much to the disappointment of the small crowd attending. Four minutes of injury time saw Lincoln searching for that third goal, with Valarino going just wide before Alfred saw his attempt at the other end deflected for a corner. Lincoln was unable to find the net again. They now drop out of the Europa League, with their next match being a Conference League play-off.