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Conference League Winners and Losers from Matchday 2: Palace’s Woes Continue, Athens Hammer Aberdeen

Sushan Chakraborty Written by Sports EditorSushan Chakraborty
Updated –
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Jean-Phillipe Mattea Conference League

Matchday 2 of the 2025/26 UEFA Europa Conference League saw 34 teams face each other in 17 action-packed fixtures over Wednesday and Thursday. 

Rijeka and Sparta Prague are the only teams left to play this Gameweek, as their match on Wednesday had to be postponed due to adverse weather conditions.

There were six draws on Matchday 2, with just one finishing goalless. Five matches finished 1-0 and two 3-0. AEK Athens’ 6-0 victory over Aberdeen was by far the most dominant performance on Matchday 3.

Europa Conference League Matchday 2 Results

Home Team Score Away Team
AEK Athens 6–0 Aberdeen
BK Hacken 2–2 Rayo Vallecano
Breidablik 0–0 KuPS
Shakhtar Donetsk 1–2 Legia Warsaw
Drita 1–1 Omonia
Shkendija 1–0 Shelbourne
Strasbourg 1–1 Jagiellonia Białystok
Rapid Wien 0–3 Fiorentina
AZ 1–0 Slovan Bratislava
Mainz 05 1–0 Zrinjski Mostar
Crystal Palace 0–1 AEK Larnaca
Hamrun Spartans 0–1 Lausanne-Sport
Lincoln Red Imps 2–1 Lech Poznan
Samsunspor 3–0 Dynamo Kyiv
Shamrock Rovers 0–2 Celje
Sigma Olomouc 1–1 Rakow Czestochowa
Universitatea Craiova 1–1 Noah

UEFA Europa Conference League Winners and Losers

UEFA Europa Conference League Winners

AEK Athens and Aboubakary Koita

Eyeing their first Conference League win, AEK Athens hosted Aberdeen at OPAP Arena on Thursday. Aboubakary Koita gave Athens the perfect start, firing them into the lead in the 11th minute. The left-winger dispatched a powerful effort from outside the box, which nestled into the bottom-right corner of the Aberdeen goal.

Seven minutes later, Koita doubled his money, finding the bottom-right corner with a right-footed shot from the left of the box. The second goal landed as a hammer blow to Aberdeen’s morale, as they never looked like making a comeback.

Niclas Eliasson (27′), Razvan Marin (55′), and substitutes Luka Jovic (81′), and Dereck Kutesa (87′) scored and AEK Athens beat Aberdeen 6-0.

The hosts had 73% possession, had 11 big chances, and took a total of 27 shots throughout the game. They only allowed two attempts on target.

Koita was the standout player in the victory over Aberdeen. While his brace set the tone for the match, it was not his only contribution. He made four recoveries, drew four fouls, and won six ground duels.

Franko Kovacevic

Franko Kovacevic put in a memorable shift as Slovenian side NK Celje beat Irish side Shamrock Rovers in their Europa League Gameweek 2 meeting. The defeat saw Shamrock Rovers extend their losing streak to three games in all competitions.

Every member of NK Celje played their role to perfection, but we cannot help but give a special round of applause to Croatian left-winger Kovacevic. The 26-year-old chased every ball, took defenders on, was a handful in one-on-one duels, and scored both of Celje’s goals, taking his goal tally to 12 in nine games.

Two minutes into the game, Kovacevic tested Rovers keeper Ed McGinty from close range. Ten minutes later, he had the ball in the back of the net but a VAR check ruled the goal out.

The inevitable Kovacevic was not going to be denied, as he found the top corner of the Hoops’ goal from the edge of the area in the 33rd minute. Seven minutes later, he doubled his money, tapping in Lukasz Bejger’s header from close range.

Kovacevic had nine touches inside the opposition box, won two aerial duels, and had two defensive contributions.

Rafał Augustyniak

Legia Warsaw produced a determined performance to beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 away from home on Matchday 2 of the Europa Conference League. Having lost their previous Conference League fixture, Warsaw needed a positive result to bring their campaign back on track.

In their time of need, midfield maestro Rafal Augustyniak emerged as the hero of the game, scoring on either side of Shakhtar’s equaliser.

Augustyniak stunned the home crowd in the 16th minute, as he scored a scorcher of a goal from well outside the area. He dribbled towards goal, benefitted from Shakhtar’s weak defending and let fly. The ball nestled into top-right corner, giving the goalkeeper no chance whatsoever.

The home side equalised in the 61st minute, with Luca Meirelles applying the final touch. There was a bit of a lull after the equaliser, but Warsaw put the pressure back on in the closing minutes of the game.

The pressure paid off in injury time, as Shakhtar conceded a free kick just outside the box. Up stepped Augustyniak and found the back of the net with a powerful yet perfectly placed free kick.

The central midfielder also had seven defensive contributions, played five passes into the final third, made seven recoveries, cleared the ball four times, and won three ground duels.

UEFA Europa Conference League Losers

Crystal Palace

Towards the end of September, Crystal Palace beat the mighty Liverpool to emerge as the only unbeaten team in the Premier League. They followed up the act by beating Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 in the Conference League, moving further up in the league rankings.

Owing to their brilliant run of form, bookmakers slashed Crystal Palace’s odds of winning the Premier League title.

The Eagles have since played three matches in all competitions, losing two and drawing one. They first lost 2-1 to Everton, then drew 3-3 with Bournemouth, and again suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to AEK Larnac.

The defeat to Larnac came as a biggest surprise, as Palace not only fielded a strong team, but also had the Selhurst Park advantage.

Oliver Glasner’s side conceded the only goal to the Cypriot club in the 51st minute. Jaydee Convoy gave the ball away cheaply, allowing Marcus Rohden to pounce on it. Rohden then slipped the ball to Riad Bajic, who applied a powerful, first-time finish to win the game for the visitors.

Palace had two big chances and finished with an xG of 1.66. They only had one effort on target against Larnac.

The Eagles must now leave the Conference League disappointment behind and turn their attention to Premier League responsibilities. They face league leaders Arsenal on Sunday.

Shamrock Rovers

Irish top flight leaders Shamrock Rovers were humbled at home by NK Celje and Frank Kovacevic on Matchday 2 of the 2025/26 Conference League season. The Slovenian side were all over the hosts, dominating possession (57% vs 43%), registering more shots (14 vs 11), and accumulating a much higher xG (2.08 vs 0.83).

Rovers’ defender Roberto Lopes could not neutralise Kovacevic in the final third, as he dribbled his way into some space and sent the ball arrowing into the top corner.

The defensive cracks showed once more just seven minutes later, as Kovacevic penetrated the box with little resistance and tucked away Lukasz Bejger’s header.

The half-time did Rovers some good as they came charging out of the gates. However, it only proved to be a momentary burst, as Celje soon resumed control.

The defeat on Matchday 2 has left the Irish side languishing in 33rd place in the Conference League rankings. They must learn from their mistakes and quickly if they are to have a shot at getting into the knockout rounds.

Jean Philippe-Mateta

Crystal Palace frontman Jean Philippe-Mateta scored a hat-trick in the 3-3 draw with Premier League opponents Bournemouth over the weekend. After his slow start, many thought the hat-trick would be the turning point of Mateta’s season.

The game against AEK Larnac proved that the Frenchman is still a work in progress. On Thursday, Mateta had five shots, but only one of them landed on target. He got two big chances and missed both, hitting the woodwork once.

Mateta had just 32 touches in the match — the least by a player to play the whole 90 minutes. To make matters worse, Mateta saw a yellow card in the 86th minute for a poor foul.

Sushan Chakraborty Written by Sports EditorSushan Chakraborty
Sushan Chakraborty has been writing professionally since debuting with 90min in 2017. He has since typed out thousands of articles, learning the trade from some of the smartest minds in the business. Now at Sportscasting, he is striving to whip up his best articles yet.
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