BK Häcken 1-1 Cork City

Cork City caused a Europa League upset of sorts at the Bravida Stadium on Thursday night, securing a vital 1-1 away draw against BK Häcken in the first leg of their second qualifying round game in Sweden.

The Leesiders gave an excellent all-round display and having put their opponents under pressure throughout the contest went ahead through a Sean Maguire penalty in the second half.

The Swedes were heavily fancied to win the home tie but failed to muster more than a handful of chances until a Paulinho set-piece was tipped away by Mark McNulty and then fired home by John Owoeri with just seven minutes remaining.

City boss John Caulfield welcomed injury doubts Greg Bolger and Kenny Browne into his team for the game, while counterpart Peter Gerhardsson made one change with Jasmin Sudic in for Simon Sandberg at the back.

The match was the Swedes' first tie in this season's competition - having been entered automatically into the second qualifying round - and they started surprisingly sluggish despite having the advantage of playing on their 4G artificial pitch.

Good play between Steven Beattie and Sean Maguire saw Garry Buckley register an early half-chance but his final shot was high and well wide after just three minutes.

Maguire planted the ball in the back of the Häcken net on six minutes, shooting from the edge of the area; however, referee Amaury Delerue of France signalled for handball in the build-up play, much to the disappointment of the 60 or so City fans that made the journey.

Dooley was next to threaten for the visitors, as City's bright start continued, but his shot was blocked by Sudic.

The hosts then gave a hint of their own potential with a lightning-quick counterattack. Baba Mensah played the ball out of his own half and combined well with striker Owoeri before Bolger and Michael McSweeney cleared the danger with Paulinho lurking at the far post.

City's best chance of the half came from a set piece.

A fine free-kick from Kevin O'Connor, after Bolger was fouled, was floated to the back post where Alan Bennett directed it back inside into the six yard box.

However, Häcken keeper Peter Abrahamsson was quick to react and gathered at the feet of Buckley before the midfielder could fire home.

Having been outplayed by their opponents in the opening 20 minutes, Häcken came more into the contest as the half progressed. Rasmus Schuller notched up their first effort on target on 27 minutes but McNulty was able to gather with little difficulty.

The Wasps, as they known on account of their gold and black kit, had an even better opportunity to break the deadlock a minute later.

A loose pass from Gearóid Morrissey allowed Paulinho intercept a City ball and only heroic goalkeeping from McNulty, assisted by Browne, kept the Swedes at bay.

Morrissey peppered the Häcken goal with a number of long-range shots throughout the opening half - none came close to giving Abrahamsson a real scare - but the teams went in level at the break.

Maguire and Morrissey both tried their luck from distance early in the second half and with City maintaining their tempo, Häcken decided to make a change in midfield and introduce Demba Savage for Martin Ericsson.

Maguire and Beattie kept sniping around the edges though, and their hard work paid off just after the hour mark when the striker raced clear and played a finely placed ball through to the feet of Dooley.

Having been turned and with an opponent clear in on goal, Mensah tackled the City winger and the referee immediately pointed to the spot and pulled a red card from his pocket.

With Häcken down to ten, it was penalty hero Maguire that placed the ball, sending Abrahamsson the wrong way to give his side a vital lead with 64 minutes played.

McNulty played villain and then hero 12 minutes later. A poor clearance by the City keeper saw O'Connor forced into a goal line clearance when Paulinho collected the ball and almost chipped home from well out.

Moments later, however, McNulty made an excellent save to boot a superb ball to Owoeri away from danger.

City's defence would eventually be breached with just seven minutes remaining.

Sheppard fouled fellow substitute Egzon Binaku out on the left wing and when Paulinho's in-swinging free kick had to be tipped away from the goal line by McNulty, Owoeri was on hand to volley home the equaliser.

Dangerman Paulinho draw another save from McNulty in the final minutes; however, City would emerge from Gothenburg a little disappointed but with a well-deserved draw and away goal to show for their efforts.

BK Häcken: Peter Abrahamsson; Baba Mensah, Emil Wahlstrom, Jasmin Sudic, Kari Arkivuo (Egzon Binaku '78); Rasmus Schuller; Nasiru Mohammed (Joel Andersson '66), Samuel Gustafsson, Martin Ericsson (Demba Savage '56), Paulinho; John Owoeri.

Substitutes: Christoffer Kallkvist, Mohammed Abubakari, Alexander Jeremejeff, Adam Andersson.

Cork City: Mark McNulty; Michael McSweeney, Alan Bennett, Kenny Browne, Kevin O'Connor; Greg Bolger; Steven Beattie (Karl Sheppard '74), Gearóid Morrissey, Garry Buckley (Mark O'Sullivan '85), Stephen Dooley; Sean Maguire (Colin Healy '90).

Substitutes: Matthew Connor, Gavan Holohan, Danny Morrissey, Ian Turner.

Referee: Amaury Delerue (France)