Joseph Anang was the star of the show as St Patrick's Athletic qualified for the next round of the UEFA Europa Conference League.
The on-loan West Ham United goalkeeper made a string of incredible saves in both regulation time and extra time against NŠ Mura on Thursday evening, before making another crucial stop in the penalty shoot-out to ensue the Saints' progression to the third qualifying roun.
It was always going to be a tough ask for the Irish side to get past Slovenian team Musa after a 1-1 draw in the first leg, but Anang and his teammates were able to see out a goalless 90 minutes to reach extra time.
That was in no small part down to Anang himself, who was called upon to deny Mura attacker Mirlind Daku with a point-blank stop just before half-time.
Nikola Petkovic would force Anang into action once more, ensuring the game was level after the regulation 90, although Mura were reduced to ten men following a Matic Marusko red card, who had clashed with Craig Forrester.
The hosts responded well to going a man down and continued to press hard against St Pat’s in extra time, but once again Anang would be on hand to deny the home side.
DRINK. IT. IN. #StPatsFC | #SaintsInEurope pic.twitter.com/4pxSxE9Ngl
— St Patrick's Athletic FC (@stpatsfc) July 28, 2022
The 22-year-old was called on twice in less than a minute, keeping out a bullet free header from Mirlind Daku before making a sublime reaction save to stop Mihael Klepac turning home from a one-on-one situation, after Martin Sroler rolled the ball back for the late-arriving attacker.
With the score-line level on the night and on aggregate across the tie, penalties loomed for both teams where, once again, Anang proved to be St Pat’s superman.
Both teams would miss twice in their opening five penalties. While Barry Cotter and Tom Grivosti failed to convert for the Pats, but Anang would pull out an incredible stop to deny Klepac with his own spot-kick, while Josip Majic also missed for the Slovenian side.
With the penalties coming down to sudden death, both sides would net their sixth spot-kicks of the shoot-out before Tio Cipot skied his effort for Musa, sending the visiting players and fans into wild celebrations.
Anang and his St Pat's teammates will not be waiting long for their reward as their next tie in the UEFA Europa Conference League, a third-round qualifying match, is set for next week against Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia.
