Late winner sees Braga edge Freiburg in first leg of Europa League semi-final

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/braga/dpUer7ht/"]Braga[/a] made a perfect start to their first UEL semi-final in 15 years, requiring less than 10 minutes to hit the front through Demir [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tiknaz-demir-ege/p0StIVQQ/"]Ege Tiknaz[/a].[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/makengo-jordy/dOFHqqsj/"]Jordy Makengo[/a] failed to deal with a deep cross, and the full-back’s poor defensive header allowed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/perea-victor/KnPJ2b5r/"]Víctor Gomez[/a] to bring the ball down and roll it across for Tiknaz to slide it beyond [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/atubolu-noah/UwlvfZCm/"]Noah Atubolu[/a]. [/b][/p][p][b]The visitors looked dazed, but they were soon offered the chance to gain a foothold when a defensive mix-up on the halfway line opened the door for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/beste-jan-niklas/YcZe7BNN/"]Jan-Niklas Beste[/a] to race in behind and into the box, where he played the ball across for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/grifo-vincenzo/jBePSV5m/"]Vincenzo Grifo[/a] to steer home his sixth European goal of the season.[/b][/p][p]However, rather than Grifo, it was Atubolu who made sure his team went into the break on level terms with a superb penalty save in first-half stoppage time.[/p][p]The shot-stopper sprang to his right to thwart [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zalazar-rodrigo/viSZFJO9/"]Rodrigo Zalazar[/a] after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lienhart-philipp/Y11H2ibh/"]Philipp Lienhart[/a] was harshly penalised for holding [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lagerbielke-gustaf/UwOm1wvF/"]Gustaf Lagerbielke[/a] following a VAR review.[/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="f6a53516-6e5a-474c-87c7-893f61053f12" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="751e8455-6787-41b4-b297-8743219f9ecb" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]An exciting end to the first period was soon followed by a cagey start to the second that eventually burst into life when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/eggestein-maximilian/lbelOv8i/"]Maximilian Eggestein[/a] forced [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hornicek-lukas/4xGGcozp/"]Lukas Hornicek[/a] into an unconvincing stop, having latched onto a far-post knockdown.[/p][p]As time ticked by, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/schuster-julian/YZPE6Sx7/"]Julian Schuster[/a]’s charges appeared to change their ambitions from snatching a winner to protecting the draw as they dropped deeper in an effort to frustrate their hosts.[/p][p]And their strategy nearly paid off until [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bocha-maho/AovdDZl1/"]Dorgeles[/a] netted a dramatic winner in the second minute of stoppage time.[/p][p][b]Atubolu could only parry [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vitor-carvalho/zDUN9KT3/"]Vitor Carvalho[/a]’s shot into the path of the 21-year-old, who stroked home the rebound to give his side a precious first-leg advantage ahead of the return fixture in Germany next week. [/b][/p][embed guid="041e912b-d19f-4143-ba8e-51436992c736" url="https://x.com/SCBragaOficial/status/2049957835631456733" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/atubolu-noah/UwlvfZCm/"]Noah Atubolu[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/freiburg/fiEQZ7C7/"]Freiburg[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/braga-dpUer7ht/freiburg-fiEQZ7C7/summary/stats/?mid=0xDcD005"]Catch up on the match stats on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]