James Bogere scored twice as his Danish side Aarhus (read Ohas) claimed a 2-1 victory over Sabah FK in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League third qualifying round tie on Wednesday.
The Ugandan striker broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute with a powerful first-time strike from the edge of the box after Aarhus had weathered early pressure from the Azerbaijani champions.
Sabah created several chances before the break, but goalkeeper Mads Hedenstad Christiansen produced key saves to deny Aleksey Isayev and Umarali Rakhmonaliev as the hosts carried a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Bogere doubled Aarhus’ advantage in the 63rd minute, finishing first time into the far corner after being played through by Magnus Knudsen to complete his brace.
Sabah responded four minutes later when Veljko Simić converted Rakhmonaliev’s cutback to reduce the deficit and set up a tense finish.
The visitors pushed for an equaliser, with Rakhmonaliev striking the crossbar before Bogere came close to completing his hat-trick after a dazzling solo run, only to fire wide.
Sabah thought they had snatched a late equaliser when Steve Solvet bundled home from a free-kick in the closing stages, but VAR ruled out the goal for an infringement.
The result gives Aarhus a narrow advantage ahead of next week’s second leg in Azerbaijan, with Bogere’s match-winning brace putting the Danish side within touching distance of the UEFA Champions League play-off round.
Bogere, 18, joined the Danish side earlier this year from El Cambio Academy.
The Youngster had earlier represented Uganda at the FIFA U-17 World Cup before he was named in the Uganda Cranes squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
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