Beitar Jerusalem flew home from Larnaca with a slender but significant lead in hand, having beaten AEK Larnaca 1-0 in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League second qualifying round tie on Thursday night — and even the home manager conceded the visitors had earned it.
The only goal came in the 77th minute, scored by Brayan Carabalí, the Colombian centre-back who joined Beitar from Deportivo Pasto last summer. It arrived five minutes after AEK Larnaca were reduced to ten men, with defender Mike van der Hoorn sent off for a professional foul as last man.
That dismissal proved decisive. "The second half was balanced until the moment that changed everything — we received a red card and conceded the goal," AEK Larnaca coach Mauro Camoranesi said afterwards, quoted by ONE.
Camoranesi, the Argentine-Italian World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, did not look for excuses. "Whoever scores wins. The opponent utilised their chance, so they deserve credit for the victory," he said, according to the same report — an admission that gave the story, and its headline, its shape.
It was a chastening opener for the 49-year-old, who was appointed AEK Larnaca coach on July 1 and was taking charge of a competitive fixture for the first time. By his own account, his side had the better of the opening twenty minutes before Beitar's discipline and the numerical advantage turned the tie.
For Beitar, the win keeps alive a European run that began with a comfortable passage through the first qualifying round, where the Jerusalem club saw off Montenegro's Sutjeska. AEK Larnaca, semi-finalists in the Conference League as recently as 2023, represent a considerably tougher continental test.
The second leg is scheduled for next Thursday — but not in Israel. Like other Israeli clubs competing in Europe this season, Beitar are hosting their "home" continental fixtures at a neutral venue in Romania, in Ploiești, because of the security situation tied to the war in Gaza.
A draw or a win in Romania would send Beitar through to the third qualifying round, one tie away from the Conference League's lucrative playoff round and a step closer to a place in the group stage proper.
