Baghdad: A 1-1 draw was the outcome of the match between Turkish side Basaksehir and their Finnish visitors, Inter Turku, in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League, played last night at the Fatih Terim Stadium in Istanbul.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, Basaksehir dominated possession, but the Finnish team managed to open the scoring in the 16th minute through Nigerian Clinton Gifta, who fired home a right-footed shot from inside the penalty area after a well-organized attack.

Sierra Leonean Elly Conteh almost doubled the visitors' lead just three minutes later when he rose to meet a corner kick from Jan Pekka Lin, heading it towards goal, but goalkeeper Mehmet Sengizer made a last-ditch save.

The home side then squandered several easy chances to equalize thanks to the brilliance of the Finnish goalkeeper, and the post denied Uzbek player Eldor Shomurodov in the 33rd minute, leaving the score 1-0 to the visitors at halftime.

In the second half, Basaksehir managed to equalize in the 54th minute through defender Emin Bayram, who headed in a corner kick taken by Yusuf Sari from the right, bringing the game back to square one.

The remaining minutes saw no change to the score, postponing the decision on who will advance to the third round of the competition until the second leg in Finland on July 30th, hosted by Inter Turku.

The winner of that match will face the winner of the Vaduz (Liechtenstein) vs. Athletic Club Descaldes (Andorra) match in the third round.