Barco the hero as Strasbourg survive scare from Rijeka to seal Conference League progression

[p]Just like the first leg, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/strasbourg/nP6UzIU1/"]Strasbourg[/a] dominated right from the off, creating a host of chances.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ouattara-guemissongui/xIPWalyj/"]Abdoul Ouattara[/a] twice went close before the quarter-hour mark but failed to hit the target on both occasions, as he first flashed a shot past the post before his mishit shot sailed wide. [/p][p][b]Despite [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/o-neil-gary/4rSZHs2M/"]Gary O’Neil[/a]’s side looking comfortable, they were hit with a suckerpunch midway through the first period when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/rijeka/zXKuUR5J/"]Rijeka[/a] cut through the hosts with ease. A patient team move culminated with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gojak-amer/zaJWctvF/"]Amer Gojak[/a] breaking towards the byline, and his cutback was swept home by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fruk-toni/G4BedhkN/"]Toni Fruk[/a], who netted his fifth goal in six appearances.[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/enciso-julio/f19S9MEi/"]Julio Enciso[/a] had opportunities after Strasbourg fell behind, but the hosts ultimately went into half-time disappointed with their first-half performance, and the tie was finely poised with them seeing their initial 2-1 lead wiped out.[/p][image alt="Match stats" id="261f57e7-e5e2-4908-9ac8-260453691415" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="45ee8ae3-fa8a-40a8-8db2-96861c9bbb8f" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]The French side came out fighting after the restart and had the ball in the back of the net inside five minutes, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/panichelli-joaquin/SSL080TM/"]Joaquun Panichelli[/a] was offside when he nodded home.[/p][p]The Strasbourg striker was beginning to grow into the contest and had another opportunity to level the scoreline on the hour mark, but struggled to connect with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/doukoure-ismael/nHtBqog0/"]Ismael Doukoure[/a]’s cross into the area. [/p][p]Strasbourg continued to pour forward with full-time approaching, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nanasi-sebastian/dIkk2y21/"]Sebastian Nanasi[/a] sent a shot narrowly over from the edge of the box.[/p][p][b]The pressure from Le Racing finally told with just over a quarter-hour remaining when Nanasi showed great feet to create space inside the box, and his low pass to the front post was brilliantly turned in by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/barco-valentin/MXX0tUs3/"]Valentin Barco[/a].[/b][/p][embed guid="8eb38e2f-3bb4-4310-9ee8-c44e69a0dea3" url="https://x.com/RCSA_English/status/2034753363154215360" social-type="twitter" /][p]That goal proved to be enough for O’Neil’s men to claim the aggregate victory and set up a quarter-final tie against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mainz/EuakNmc1/"]Mainz[/a], while Rijeka’s historic run comes to an end. [/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/barco-valentin/MXX0tUs3/"]Valentin Barco[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/strasbourg/nP6UzIU1/"]Strasbourg[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/rijeka-zXKuUR5J/strasbourg-nP6UzIU1/?mid=zDfqwCHb"]Click here for more on the [/a][/b][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/rijeka-zXKuUR5J/strasbourg-nP6UzIU1/?mid=zDfqwCHb"]match[/a][/b][/p]