Football: Appendix operation deprives Athletic Bilbao of striker Guruzeta for rest of season
Athletic Bilbao will be without top-scorer Gorka Guruzeta for the rest of the season after confirming that he has had an operation for acute appendicitis.
Maccabi Tel Aviv from Israel progressed to the UEFA Conference League playoffs following a 1-0 home victory against AEK Larnaca of Cyprus in the third qualifying round second-leg match.
Having secured an aggregate win over the Cypriot side after last week’s 1-1 draw in Larnaca, Maccabi is set to compete against Slovenia’s NK Celje in the playoffs.
In front of 26,000 spectators at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv-Yafo on Thursday evening, Maccabi captain Eran Zahavi missed opportunities to score in the fourth and 24th minutes. Adam Gyurcso managed to find the net in the 42nd minute, only for the goal to be disallowed by Croatian referee Fran Jovic for an offside violation, reports Xinhua.
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Zahavi came close to scoring again in the 72nd minute, but his roughly 16-meter shot hit the post. Nine minutes later, an offside call once again negated a goal for Larnaca, this one by Hrvoje Milicevic.
In the 86th minute, Zahavi successfully converted a penalty after substitute midfielder Milson was fouled in the penalty area by Milicevic.
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