After their 3-2 win against Benfica on matchday one of the Champions League, Azerbaijan outfit Qarabag recorded their second successive win in the prestigious competition when they punished a complacent FC Copenhagen side in Baku to win 2-0 on the night.
Despite being viewed by many as outsiders to qualify for the knockout stages, Qarabağ looked like a team full of confidence after their stunning away win against Benfica on matchday one.
That became increasingly evident during the first half as they pinned their Danish visitors back, and the breakthrough came midway through the half. Pedro Bicalho was unlucky to see his shot from distance smash off the post, but Abdellah Zoubir was on hand to pounce and tapped the ball into the empty net to spark jubilant scenes in the home crowd.
Despite offering little attacking threat, Copenhagen should’ve equalised almost instantly. A swift break saw Robert Silva pick out Mohamed Elyounoussi in the box, but he screwed his side-footed finish a long way wide.
If anything, that sparked more life into the home attack, and Zoubir was desperately unlucky not to double the lead as his close-range header was superbly tipped over the bar by Dominik Kotarski.
In the end, the visitors were lucky to go into the break only 1-0 down, as Leandro Andrade saw his goal-bound shot blocked on the line by Marcos López just before HT.
Having seen his side completely outplayed in the first half, Jacob Neestrup responded at the break with two changes. Although the subs appeared to give the visitors more control in the game, clear-cut chances continued to elude them. Their first opening of the half came just after the hour mark, but Jordan Larsson’s header was directed straight into the hands of Mateusz Kochalski.
In the final 15 minutes, the visitors threw everything at finding an equaliser, but instead were hit with a suckerpunch when Emmanuel Addai showed his class to spin and fire home from the edge of the area.
That sealed a win that means Qarabağ join Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid as the only teams with two wins from two to open their campaign so far, while Copenhagen have work to do after taking only one point from their opening two games.