Mario Dorgeles punished a stoppage-time error from Noah Atubolu as Braga snatched a 2-1 win over Freiburg in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tie.

Substitute Dorgeles was on hand to prod home when Atubolu made a mess of what should have been a routine save from Vitor Carvalho's shot, meaning Braga have something to defend in next week's away leg and were not left to rue Rodrigo Zalazar's saved penalty.

There was plenty of goalmouth action early on, with the scoreline at 1-1 after just 16 minutes. 

Pau Victor had already wasted a good chance before Demir Ege Tiknaz stretched to prod Braga into an eighth-minute lead, though Vincenzo Grifo quickly restored parity when he swept Niklas Beste's centre home.

Braga suffered a huge blow when their captain and creator-in-chief, Ricardo Horta, went off injured, but they had a big opportunity to restore their lead on the stroke of half-time, with Philipp Lienhart adjudged to have grappled Gustaf Lagerbielke to the ground from a corner.

However, Atubolu brilliantly sprung to his right to keep out Zalazar's spot-kick, which was whipped towards the bottom-left corner with power. 

Both teams had chances in the second half, with Lukas Hornicek denying Maximilian Eggestein and Fran Navarro appealing in vain for another penalty against Lagerbielke.

But two minutes into added time, Atubolu pushed Carvalho's strike into the ground right in front of his goal, with Dorgeles pouncing to give Braga a first-leg lead.

Data Debrief: Atubolu goes from hero to villain

It was certainly an eventful night for Atubolu, whose penalty save was – incredibly – his sixth from the last seven spot-kicks he has faced with Freiburg in all competitions. 

Since the start of 2023-24, only Vanja Milinkovic-Savic (eight) and Frederik Ronnow (seven) have saved more penalties than Atubolu's six across all competitions in the big five European leagues (excluding shootouts).

However, his late error allowed Dorgeles to score Braga's five goals via a substitute in this season's Europa League, the joint-most of any team alongside Celta Vigo.

Braga edged the shot count (13 to 10) and the expected goals battle (2.37 xG to 1.11), aided by their penalty and Atubolu's mistake, but they still have work to do in the tie, given that Freiburg have won all six of their home Europa League matches this campaign.