Already needing a minor miracle to progress, Lech had the first chance of the game on five minutes, when Celtic loanee Luis Palma stepped up to a free kick and forced Matheus into tipping the ball around the post.
In contrast to their visitors, Crvena didn’t have to chase the game - but they were industrious all the same, with only a double save by Bartosz Mrozek preventing them from going three up on aggregate. He thwarted Timi Elsnik and Peter Olayinka from close range, and from the resulting corner, Rade Krunic’s glancing header was almost turned home at the back post by Shavy Babicka.
With time increasingly less on their side, the Railwaymen needed to get a foothold quickly, and they came close through Leo Bengtsson, as he dragged an effort just wide on the half hour mark.
However, it was Crvena who added to their aggregate advantage right on HT, as Mateusz Skrzypczak rather clumsily felled Olayinka in the box. Up stepped Cherif Ndiaye to send Mrozek the wrong way and open the scoring on the night, while also etching his name onto the scoresheet in a second consecutive UCL qualification round.
The second half was a slow burner, but the Polish side were given a glimmer of hope just before the hour mark, when Rodrigao lazily dangled a leg and brought down Bengtsson on the edge of the box as the Swedish forward bore down on goal. The Brazilian defender was shown a straight red card by Francois Letexier, forcing Vladan Milojevic’s side to play the last half hour a man down.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, the hosts continued to control proceedings with relative ease, and Ndiaye thought he had his second with a quarter of an hour left when he slotted home from Elšnik’s through ball, but VAR wasn’t required to see he was clearly offside.
The game was petering out but Lech did at least come away from Belgrade with something after Mikael Ishak finished via a deflection in stoppage time after a clearance fell to him in the box.
Crvena now face Cypriot outfit Pafos, who beat Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 earlier tonight, for a place in the UCL main draw. Meanwhile, Lech will be gearing up for a UEFA Europa League qualification playoff against KRC Genk.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Cherif Ndiaye (Crvena Zvezda)