After months of wait, Kenyan International Collins Shichenje finally made his competitive debut for AIK Football in the Europa Conference League as they knocked out FC Vorskla Poltava following a 4-3 aggregate win at Friends Arena.

AIK will proceed to the third round following the win and will learn their next opponents after the draw is conducted.

105 minutes for Shichenje

Shichenje, a former AFC Leopards utility was unveiled at AIK in May after signing a four-year deal and was yet to make a competitive appearance.

On Wednesday, he got his long-awaited start and clocked 105 minutes. His counterpart Eric Ouma played the entire 120 minutes while Henry Meja was an unused substitute.

AIK overturns

Heading to the match, AIK had lost the first leg 3-2 away in Ukraine and were keen to overturn the result. Josafat Mendes scored the much-needed goal in the dying minutes of the first tying the aggregate score at 3-3.

The scoreline remained unchanged in the final 45 minutes and the match had to be decided in extra time.

Axel Björnström scored the winning goal of the match in the 107 for a 4-3 aggregate. AIK will be back in action in August for the third round of the competition.

Another Kenya International Alywn Tera will learn his fate on Thursday night as his side Ararat-Armenia takes on Paide in the return leg. The first leg played last Thursday ended in a goalless draw.

Qualifying
First qualifying round: 7 & 14 July
Second qualifying round: 21 & 28 July
Third qualifying round: 4 & 11 August 2022
Play-offs: 18 & 25 August 2022

Group stage
Matchday 1: 8 September 2022
Matchday 2: 15 September 2022
Matchday 3: 6 October 2022
Matchday 4: 13 October 2022
Matchday 5: 27 October 2022
Matchday 6: 3 November 2022
Knockout phase
Knockout round play-offs: 16 & 23 February
Round of 16: 9 & 16 March 2023
Quarter-finals: 13 & 20 April 2023
Semi-finals: 11 & 18 May 2023
Final: 7 June 2023