Sabah beats Slavia Prague 2:0 for first Champions League win in Baku
Joy-Lance Mickels scored in the 88th minute after a Slavia Prague defensive error, and Tymoteusz Puchacz played the full match for the Azerbaijani side. The result gave Sabah its first points in the Champions League.
A first Champions League win in Baku
Sabah beat Slavia Prague 2:0 on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, in the second round of the Champions League league phase. The win was the first in the club's Champions League history and brought its first points in the competition. Sabah had opened its campaign with a 0:4 defeat at Manchester United, and this time it played in front of its own supporters. Tymoteusz Puchacz started and played the full 90 minutes on the left side of the defence, which kept a clean sheet. Slavia, the Czech champion, had more of the ball and more attacks, but Sabah were the more effective side in front of goal.
Parris opened the scoring after a disallowed goal
Kaheem Parris struck in the 17th minute, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a review. The Austrian referee Sebastian Gishamer blew for the offside, and Slavia spent much of the first half struggling to create clear chances. Parris scored in the 49th minute, finishing a counter-attack after a pass from Ivan Lepinjica. It was the first goal Sabah had scored in its Champions League history. Tomas Chory had a chance at 39 minutes after a poor distribution from Stas Pokatilov, but his follow-up effort was blocked by Steve Solvet.
Mickels' goal came from a late defensive error
Slavia pushed almost its entire side forward in the closing minutes, leaving gaps behind its defence. A long pass forced Jakub Marković to come well out of his area, and he lost possession there. Orphe Mbina then played the ball to Joy-Lance Mickels, who ran forward and shot at an empty goal in the 88th minute. David Moses tried to clear the effort but misjudged his attempt. Mickels' goal sealed the 2:0 result for the home side.
- Kaheem Parris goal ruled out for offside
- Kaheem Parris scores, 1:0
- Wiktor Nowak enters for Slavia Prague
- Oskar Kubiak enters for Slavia Prague
- Joy-Lance Mickels scores, 2:0
Polish players in the match
Tymoteusz Puchacz started for Sabah, while Wiktor Nowak and Oskar Kubiak both began on the bench for Slavia under coach Jindrich Trpisovsky. Nowak came on in the 62nd minute, replacing Michal Sadilek, and in the 71st minute he fired two efforts from distance, one of which just missed the target. Kubiak came on in the 75th minute and was shown a yellow card two minutes later. Puchacz spent the match on the left side of the defence.
Slavia's chances before and after the break
Slavia's best openings came late in the first half. Danijel Sturm ran in behind the Sabah defence and chose a pass instead of a shot from a tight angle. Tomas Vlcek, who received the ball, hit the post from close range. The referee then blew for offside, which ended the move. Slavia took more shots and held more of the ball over the match, yet it could not beat goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov.