Sabah Baku 3-2 Hapoel Beer Sheva: Gerasimakis Hits Winner as Azerbaijani Side Take First-Leg Advantage

Sabah Baku grabbed a dramatic 3-2 victory over Hapoel Beer Sheva in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League qualifier at a hostile Bank Respublika Arena on Wednesday morning. Under the floodlights in Baku, the Azerbaijani champions showed character to recover from a nightmare start, scoring three unanswered goals before enduring a nervy finale against the Israeli visitors.

For a side competing in Europe’s elite club competition for only the second time in their history, Sabah proved they belong on this stage with a high-intensity performance that combined slick passing with ruthless finishing. Hapoel Beer Sheva, no strangers to this level having reached the Champions League group stage in 2017, were left with plenty to ponder ahead of next week’s return leg in southern Israel.

Fast Start for the Visitors

The match could hardly have started worse for Sabah. Inside the opening eight minutes, Hapoel Beer Sheva sliced through the home defence with a cleverly worked corner routine that found an unmarked forward arriving at the near post. The Israeli side’s early press unsettled Sabah, and their second goal arrived in the 24th minute after a swift counter-attack caught the Baku backline stranded up the pitch. At 2-0 down, the Azerbaijan champions appeared to be staring at an uphill climb of the steepest kind.

A Remarkable Turnaround

Instead, Sabah responded with composure and belief, gradually forcing their opponents back into their own half. The game swung decisively in first-half stoppage time when a curling delivery from the left flank was met with a towering header to halve the deficit. That strike changed the tempo completely. After the restart, Sabah pressed higher and the pressure told in the 63rd minute, as a slick one-two on the edge of the box saw the forward sweep the ball past the Hapoel goalkeeper to make it 2-2.

With momentum surging, Sabah completed the comeback just seven minutes later. A veteran playmaker — quiet until that point — picked the ball up in midfield, drove forward, and slid a precise pass through into the penalty area. The finish, a composed placement into the far corner, sent the home fans into raptures and left Hapoel with just fifteen minutes to chase an equaliser.

Nervy Finale and Tactical Battle

Hapoel Beer Sheva threw caution to the wind late on, and they nearly hauled themselves level with a stoppage-time free kick that brushed the top of the crossbar. Yet Sabah held on, soaking up wave after wave of pressure with a disciplined defensive block and a standout performance from their goalkeeper, who made three crucial saves in the final quarter-hour.

From a tactical standpoint, the match was a study in adaptation. Sabah’s initial high defensive line looked vulnerable to Hapoel’s vertical passes, but after the interval they dropped deeper, closed the channels, and broke into the spaces vacated by a tiring visiting side. Hapoel, meanwhile, controlled possession for long stretches but lacked the final ball in the decisive moments.

What It Means

The 3-2 result gives Sabah Baku a slender but enormously valuable lead ahead of the second leg. By virtue of scoring twice away from home, Hapoel Beer Sheva will still fancy their chances, knowing that a 1-0 win or any two-goal margin would see them progress. For Sabah, the challenge will be maintaining their first-leg composure on unfamiliar territory, where the atmosphere and pace of the tie will be entirely different.

Both clubs will take clear lessons from this encounter: Sabah know they cannot afford a slow start in Israel, while Hapoel clearly need to shore up their defensive transitions if they are to overturn the deficit. With place in the next qualifying round at stake, the return leg promises to be another tense European night.