This is great to see.
On Wednesday evening, Manchester City lost 4-0 away to Barcelona and Celtic were beaten comfortably by Borussia Mönchengladbach, losing the Champions League tie at Parkhead 2-0.
However, while Scottish and English clubs, with the exception of Arsenal, struggled in Europe, an Irish side made history and set up a glamour tie against one of the giants of Italian football.
Cork City’s U19 team beat HJK Helsinki at Turner’s Cross in the Uefa Youth League to advance to the next round of the competition, where they will play Roma.
The first-leg against the Finnish side ended goalless, and a second-half penalty from Aaron Drinan gave the Leesiders the lead.
🎥 48 – And here is the goal! @CorkCityFC striker Aaron Drinan slots the ball home! 1-0!! #UYL🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/A3ujVpuLos
— League of Ireland (@LeagueofIreland) October 19, 2016
Helsinki came on strong, knowing an away goal would put them through.
🎥 77 – CHANCE! @hjkhelsinki go close as substitute Eetu Vertainen heads narrowly wide! #UYL🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/VnqTtGnQPm
— League of Ireland (@LeagueofIreland) October 19, 2016
But thanks to some heroic defending, Cork withstood a late fightback to advance.
🎥 89 – TACKLE! @CorkCityFC defending for their lives as they deny @hjkhelsinki once again! Hold out! #UYL🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/WdD2RJBOGn
— League of Ireland (@LeagueofIreland) October 19, 2016
Current Republic of Ireland internationals Shane Long, Kevin Doyle and David Meyler have all played for Cork in the not too distant past. Hopefully there’s a few future internationals in this team that made history by advancing.
Cork’s opponents in the next round Roma advanced thanks to a 9-1 aggregate victory over Cypriot side APOEL Nicosia.
FULL TIME | City are through to face @ASRomaEN in the next round!!!! #CCFC84 #UYL pic.twitter.com/lKZOZNWWHH
— Cork City FC (@CorkCityFC) October 19, 2016
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