Diallo at the double as Dynamo Brest hit six past FC Astana

Dynamo Brest made an awe-inspiring Champions League debut after defeating FC Astana 6-3 in Tuesday's game, with Senegalese striker Abdoulaye Diallo bagging two goals and an assist.

Having been crowned as the Belarusian champions for the 2019-20 season ahead of BATE Borisov, Sergey Kovalchuk's men earned a berth to feature in Europe's elite club competition for the first time against the Kazakhstan's reigning kings.

Despite playing the first qualifying round without fans at the Regional Sport Complex Brestsky due to the coronavirus pandemic, Brest strolled past Astana in the nine-goal thriller.

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Mikhail Gordeychuk handed them a 16th minute lead thanks to Diallo's assist before Kiril Pechenin doubled the advantage a minute later.

In the 22nd minute, Pechenin turned provider for Gordeychuk who completed his brace. In the goal-laden first-half, Pavel Sedko made it four for the hosts. However, the visitors pulled one back through Marin Tomasov on the stroke of half-time.

Astana looked more adventurous in the second-half and were rewarded with a second goal through Dorin Rotariu in the 53rd minute courtesy of Tomasov's assist.

That strike woke Kovalchuk's team from their slumber as Diallo responded with his club's fifth strike two minutes later - with the assist attributed to Ukrainian forward Artem Milevskiy.

The Kazakhstan team netted their third of the game courtesy of Abzal Beysebekov with three minutes left to play, while the Senegalese completed his brace in the 90th minute.

Just like Diallo, Cameroonian midfielder Gaby Kiki - who was cautioned in the 35th minute - was in action from start to finish.

With this result, the Belarusian giants have booked their place in the second qualifying round of the Champions League where they will square up against FC Connah's Quay Nomads or FK Sarajevo.

They will shift their attention to Friday's league game against Belshina and would be aiming to return to winning ways having lost 1-0 in their last outing against Shakhtyor. Currently, they are ninth in the log having accrued 29 points from 19 outings.

24-year-old Diallo joined Brest in 2020 on loan from Rukh Brest. He is eligible to represent the Teranga Lions at the senior level.