St Patrick’s Athletic denied Conference League place by Istanbul Basaksehir
St Patrick’s Athletic missed the chance to qualify for the Conference League after losing 2-0 to Istanbul Basaksehir in the second leg of their play-off tie.
The League of Ireland side had drawn the first leg in Dublin last week and reached the hour mark in Turkey on level terms before succumbing to two late goals.
Kian Leavy had the first real chance of the game in Istanbul when his effort flew just wide of the post before Berkay Ozcan had a good shot blocked in the first half.
The Super Lig side took the lead in the 64th minute when a deflected ball fell to Omer Ali Sahiner and he fired his side in front with a close-range strike.
St Patrick’s hopes of forcing extra time took a blow in the 81st minute when substitute Aaron Bolger was shown a straight red card only four minutes after being brought on.
Olivier Kemen then killed the tie a minute later by scoring Basaksehir’s second.