BATE Borisov have beaten Partizan 1-0 in their Champions League playoff first leg at the Borisov Arena.
The hosts were quickest off the starting blocks as Mikhail Gordejchuk latched on to an accurate pass inside the box and fired a low shot towards the right post that Zivko Zivkovic palmed away.
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Vitali Rodionov then threatened for BATE three minutes later when he rose above the defence to head a precise cross towards the goal, but once again the Partizan goalkeeper was equal to it.
Aleksandr Yermakovich's charges continued to press and just after the quarter-hour mark came within a whisker of opening the scoring once again, but Zivkovic pulled off another acrobatic save to thwart Rodionov.
The Partizan goalkeeper was impervious in goal and was one of the main reasons why the sides were still level at the break, but they were forced to regroup after Marko Jevtovic was sent off for a second bookable offence on the stroke of half time.
In a tense and tight game of few chances, the Serbian giants were next to register a concrete chance midway through the second half when Andrija Zivkovic's marauding effort was saved by Sergey Chernik.
Eventually the breakthrough did come as the hosts drew first blood in the 75th minute, courtesy of Igor Stasevic's corner being powerfully nodded home by Gordejchuk.
It could have been worse still for Partizan when Rodionov was able to fire towards goal from point-blank range, but Zivkovic once again bailed his side out with another save that ultimately kept the scoreline down to a single goal.
Giuseppe Labellarte
