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Football: Poland's Raków win in Europa League, crowd unrest at Legia Warsaw match in Birmingham

01.12.2023 07:30
Poland's football champions Raków Częstochowa have won their first match in the 2023/2024 UEFA Europa League, while Polish Cup holders Legia Warsaw's Conference League game in Birmingham was marred by crowd unrest, according to news reports.
Polish football champions Raków Częstochowa (in white) in action against Sturm Graz of Austria in their 20232024 UEFA Europa League Group D match, in Graz, on Thursday, November 30, 2023.
Polish football champions Raków Częstochowa (in white) in action against Sturm Graz of Austria in their 2023/2024 UEFA Europa League Group D match, in Graz, on Thursday, November 30, 2023. PAP/Waldemar Deska

Raków beat Sturm Graz 1-0 in Austria on Thursday night, recording their first victory in the main stage of a European competition.

Substitute John Yeboah scored the winning goal on 81 minutes, the PAP news agency reported.

After five rounds of matches, Raków sit fourth in Group D of the 2023/2024 UEFA Europa League, the continent's second-tier club competition.

Raków can finish third and qualify for the knockout-round play-offs in the third-tier competition, the UEFA Conference League; their last group game is at home to Italy's Atalanta Bergamo on December 14, European football's governing body UEFA said.

Meanwhile, Legia Warsaw lost 1-2 to Aston Villa in their Conference League match in Birmingham on Thursday, the PAP news agency reported.

Ernest Muçi scored for the Polish Cup holders on 20 minutes.  

After five rounds of matches, Legia are second in Group E of the 2023/2024 UEFA Conference League on nine points; they next play AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands in Warsaw on December 14, needing a point to progress to the competition's knock-out stages.

Before Thursday's match, some of Legia's fans clashed with police, with three officers suffering injuries, according to British media.

Aston Villa banned these supporters from entering the stadium, prompting Legia's officials to boycott the game, the PAP news agency reported.

Earlier, the English club reduced the allocation of tickets for Legia fans amid police concerns over possible violence, following unrest at a match against AZ Alkmaar in October, according to news reports.

(pm/gs)

Source: IAR, PAP, UEFA