Astana progress into group stages thanks to late Nikola Maksimovic goal

Nikola Maksimovic's late header earned Astana a 1-1 draw with APOEL in the second leg of their Champions League qualifying contest, giving the Kazakh side a 2-1 victory on aggregate.

APOEL started the game in search of an important goal and they almost found it through Tomas De Vincenti, who was eventually denied by Nenad Eric in the Astana goal.

It took the best part of 15 minutes for the away side to register an effort, and it came via Foxi Kethevoama as he forced a good save from APOEL keeper Boy Waterman.

The hosts soon came back with another good chance of their own, but Carlao could not get the better of a defiant Eric as the Cypriot side went in search of a goal to level the tie on aggregate.

APOEL arguably began to increase in dominance, but were again denied before the end of the half when Leal found himself in space, only to be thwarted by a busy Eric in the visitors' goal.

The home side passed up yet another great chance to get back into the contest after half time, as De Vincenti failed to finish having caught hold of a loose ball inside the Astana box.

The miss was not to matter too much, however, as APOEL finally got themselves a goal to bring the scores level overall, Semir Stilic pulling off a memorable strike from distance to put his side into the lead on the night.

The hosts' confidence was to be shattered in the final moments of the game, though, as Maksimovic headed Astana back on level terms in the 84th minute to ensure that the away side stole a draw to seal progression.