FC Flora through to UEFA Conference League round three after home thriller

Tallinna FC Flora overcame AC Virtus (San Marino) in dramatic style in their UEFA Europa Conference League's round two qualifier, second leg, with Flora playing much of the second half with 10 men, and putting away three goals in extra time after regular time saw the scoreboard drawn.
The first leg away to AC Virtus last week had been goal-less, but with things 2:2 in Tallinn after regular time, the three extra time goals made the score on the night, and on aggregate, 5:2 in Flora's favor.
Flora took the lead in the 4th minute when striker Mark Anders Lepik converted a penalty following a foul in the penalty area on midfielder Tony Varjund.
However, the Estonian domestic champions played with 10 men from the 48th minute after left-back Marco Lukka was sent off for a second yellow card.
Virtus capitalized on the situation and equalized in the 68th minute with a goal from striker Simone Benincasa.
Flora managed to retake the lead nine minutes later, again thanks to a penalty, awarded after a handball by Virtus defender Manuel Battistini. Striker Rauno Sappinen put this past the Virtus keeper.
Virtus struck back two minutes before the end of regular time, with a Marseljan Mema strike after Flora lost possession near their own penalty area.
Extra time ensued, but Rauno Alliku (92nd, 97th minutes) and Vladislav Kreida (120th minute) were on fire to secure the victory for Flora with three precise shots.
Flora will face in the third qualifying round, the winner of the game between Reykjavik Vikingur (Iceland) and Egnatia (Albania) tomorrow night, Thursday. Egnatia won their first leg 1-0.
The Europa Conference League is the third-tier of UEFA club competition, behind the more well-known Champions League and Europa League.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Henrik Laever