MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Premier League side Krilya Sovetov were knocked out of the Europa League qualifying rounds on Thursday evening by Irish minnows St Patrick's Athletic.
Despite losing 1-0 in the first leg in Dublin a week ago, Krilya were odds on favorites to overturn the deficit in front of their own fans in their Volga Region hometown of Samara.
The chances of a shock win for St Patrick receded even further after the Russian side went 3-0 up within an hour, a goal from Anton Bober and two from Yevgeny Savin apparently leaving the tiny contingent of Irish fans with no hope of witnessing an upset.
However, Bober turned villain in the 73rd minute when he put through his own net and Krilya were left reeling as forward Declan O'Brien followed up his winner in Dublin with his fourth goal of the 2009/10 Europa League.
The goal leveled the tie at 3-3 on aggregate but meant that St Patrick would go through on the away goals rule if the score did not change.
O'Brien's goal made him the Irish team's top all-time European scorer, despite only joining the club on loan from Dundalk three weeks ago.
Krilya pressed for an equalizer, but were unable to find a way through the Irish defense as St Patrick's hung on for a famous and unexpected victory.
The draw for the next round of the tournament takes place in Switzerland on Friday.
