Weghorst Stars As Twente Beat Qarabag to Reach Conference League

Wout Weghorst silenced his critics on Thursday night, helping FC Twente reach the main tournament of the Conference League with an assist in regular time and a goal in extra time. Twente beat Qarabag 4-1 in Baku, Azerbaijan, overturning a 1-0 deficit from last week's first leg in Enschede, Netherlands. Due to thunderstorms in Baku, the match started fifteen minutes later than planned.

Coach John van den Brom made two changes from last week's lineup: Younes Taha and Max Bruns replaced Marko Pjaca and Aske Adelgaard. Sam Lammers and Kristian Hlynsson were not fit and were left out of the squad. Twente came close after about half an hour when Daouda Weidmann hit the crossbar.

Just before halftime, Qarabag's Jaly Mouaddib shot into the side netting. After the break, Qarabag became more dangerous on the counterattack. Kady Malinowski hit the post, and in the 59th minute, the Brazilian scored, beating goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall.

Twente responded in the 79th minute when Weghorst headed the ball across for substitute Marko Pjaca to score. Max Bruns then tapped in from close range in stoppage time to force extra time. In extra time, Weghorst became the hero, scoring acrobatically after a build-up involving Pjaca and Weidmann.

He was also involved in a second-half incident when his foul on Marko Jankovic led to the midfielder receiving a second yellow card and being sent off. Twente finished the match against ten men and added a fourth goal after a huge blunder by Qarabag goalkeeper Martin Zlosmilic, who completely missed the ball, allowing Younes Taha to score. Twente now await Friday's draw for the Conference League league phase. )