Ayunga marks return from knee injury with appearance for St.Mirren in UEFA Conference League qualifier against Valur.
Harambee Stars forward Jonah Ayunga marked his return from injury with an appearance for St Mirren in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League qualifier against Valur.
Ayunga, who earned his first cap for Kenya in a 4-0 win over Malawi last March, had ended his previous season prematurely due to an injury that required surgery, ruling him out of key matches against Ivory Coast and Burundi in June.
Ayunga came on as a 68th-minute substitute in an eventful match that ended in a 0-0 draw. The result leaves St Mirren needing a home victory next week to continue their journey in the competition.
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The game saw early action with St Mirren almost taking the lead through Toyosi Olusanya, who forced a brilliant save from the Valur goalkeeper at the ten-minute mark. Shortly after, St Mirren's goalkeeper was called into action to deny a low effort from Haraldsson.
An early injury forced Stephen Robinson to replace Caolan Boyd-Munce with Dennis Adeniran in the 15th minute. Olusanya came close again, meeting a cross from Jadon Brown, but his effort went just wide. Brown himself forced the goalkeeper to make a save from a close-range header soon after.
The end of the first half was marked by missed opportunities from both sides, with Sigurdur Egill Larusson and Oisin Smyth coming close. The half ended goalless, with both teams left to rue missed chances.
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The second half continued the same pattern, with both goalkeepers busy. Idowu came close for St Mirren but was denied by the keeper, while former Everton and Swansea midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson had a late chance for Valur.
Valur were reduced to ten men for the last ten minutes when Aron Jóhannsson was shown a red card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity. This numerical advantage gave St Mirren a slight edge, but they couldn't capitalize on it.
Ayunga now has a glorious chance to help his team advance to the group stages of the Conference League for the 2024/2025 season, aiming to make a significant impact in the upcoming matches.
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