Riga and Kairat Almaty draw 1-1 in the first round of the UEFA Conference League

Riga drew 1-1 with visitors Kairat Almaty in the match that brought them together in the first round of the league phase of the UEFA Conference League, played at 19:45 Damascus time.

Marc Gual opened the scoring for Kairat Almaty in the 5th minute from a penalty, before Salah Oulad M'Hand equalised for Riga in the 12th minute, with the first and second halves ending with this result.

The match saw no red cards, while two Kairat Almaty players received yellow cards compared to no yellow cards for Riga.

Kairat Almaty goalkeeper Temirlan Anarbekov received the man of the match award with a rating of 8.7, after playing for 88 minutes and making 7 saves.

Statistically, Riga dominated possession with 63 per cent compared to 37 per cent for Kairat Almaty, and registered 18 shots compared to 13 for their visitors, while the expected goals rate reached 2.30 for Riga compared to 1.12 for Kairat Almaty. Riga also had more passes, completing 585 passes with 87 per cent accuracy, compared to 336 passes with 78 per cent accuracy for Kairat Almaty.

The match was officiated by referee Florian Lechner, and the result placed both teams at the start of their journey in the league phase of the competition.