Riga draw 1-1 with Czech side Jablonec in UEFA Conference League

Latvian football club Riga drew 1-1 at home with Czech side Jablonec in the league phase of the UEFA Conference League, a European club competition. The result leaves Riga with three points in 19th place among 36 teams, while Jablonec have two points and are 23rd.

How the match unfolded

In the 12th minute, Jablonec's Dominik Holy headed the ball toward goal but hit Riga goalkeeper Kenan Piric directly, and the keeper held it. In the 33rd minute, Jablonec goalkeeper Klemens Mihelak fouled Riga forward Reginaldo Ramires inside the penalty area, and Ramires converted the 11-metre penalty in the 35th minute to put Riga 1-0 ahead.

The visitors equalised in the 49th minute: after a pass from Holy, Sebastian Nebyla struck into the far corner from the right side of the box. Three minutes later Salah Ulad curled in what looked like a goal, but a video review showed that Maksims Toniševs had committed a foul in midfield when winning the ball from Holy beforehand. The goal was disallowed and Toniševs received a yellow card.

Standings and what comes next

In its two previous league-phase games Riga also drew 1-1, at home to Kazakhstan's Kairat Almaty and away to Cyprus's Pafos. Jablonec lost 2-3 away to Germany's Freiburg and drew 0-0 at home with England's Brighton & Hove Albion.

Riga next face Žalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania on 26 November, host Italy's Atalanta of Bergamo on 10 December, and finish the league phase on 17 December in Bosnia and Herzegovina against Borac Banja Luka. After six rounds, the top eight teams go straight to the round of 16, teams placed 9th to 24th enter the knockout play-off round, and the rest are eliminated. This format is being used in the Conference League for the third time.

Riga is the third Latvian team to reach the group or league stage of a UEFA club competition, after Ventspils (Europa League, 2009/2010) and RFS (Conference League, 2022/2023). The Conference League final will be held in Istanbul on 2 June.