Club career Sabien Lilaj

1 club career

1.1 career
1.2 tirana
1.3 lokomotiva
1.4 skënderbeu korçë

club career
early career

lilaj born in maliq, korçë county, moved capital tirana along family @ age of eight, began playing football @ loro boriçi sports mastery school @ age of ten, playing school s football team shkëndija tiranë.

tirana

in summer of 2008, went on trial kf tirana, spotted head coach blaž slišković, impressed 19-year-old , signed him ahead of 2008–09 campaign. made league debut in opening game of 2008–09 albanian superliga against vllaznia shkodër, started game in midfield in goalless draw. scored first professional goal in 3–2 away win on local rivals dinamo tirana, , in total made 20 league appearances in debut season, won albanian superliga first time. made 2 appearances in club s albanian cup run, reached final lost flamurtari vlorë.

the following season, lilaj made european debut in second qualifying round of uefa champions league against norwegian side stabæk, match ended in 1–1 draw. started return leg ended in 4–0 loss side send side eliminated europe. came on @ half time blerti hajdari in 2009 albanian supercup defeated flamurtari vlorë 1–0, side beat them in previous cup final. in league, made 23 appearances, of off bench struggled establish himself in midfield in season side failed win league finished third, or cup reached third round.

lilaj began 2010–11 season playing against hungarian side zalaegerszegi te in first qualifying round of uefa europa league, both legs finished in goalless draws, meaning time needed after second leg in zalaegerszeg, kf tirana won tie through erando karabeci free-kick in 107th minute. side drawn against dutch side fc utrecht, lost first leg 4–0 away @ stadion galgenwaard, held utrecht 1–1 in return leg @ qemal stafa stadium knocked out of competition. in albanian superliga, side struggled throughout season , finished in fifth place out of 12 teams, 2 points above relegation playoff places, lilaj still managed show form made 24 appearances , scored 1 goal. side did, however, have successful albanian cup run defeated dinamo tirana on penalties in final win first albanian cup since 2006. lilaj scored once in run final, featuring in 6 games, including both legs of quarter- , semi-finals, respectively , final, played full 120 minutes kf tirana won on penalties rescue season. allowed leave club @ end of season, did many other first team players, including andi lila, jahmir hyka, tefik osmani , pero pejić.

lokomotiva

in summer transfer window of 2011, lilaj joined croatian prva hnl side nk lokomotiva, struggled compete likes of mateo poljak , marcelo brozović first team place. made 15 league appearances side finished in respectable seventh place out of 16 teams; side did not qualify 2011–12 croatian football cup, meaning not play other games season. despite having difficult personal season, performances did attract interest of albania national team head coach josip kuže, gave him first senior international call , cap. after 1 season in croatia, left lokomotiva return albania, subject interest host of albanian superliga sides in summer of 2012.

skënderbeu korçë

lilaj in action during europa league match against lokomotiv moscow.

he returned birthplace , signed three-year contract reigning superliga champions skënderbeu korçë on 7 august 2012, once again teamed ditmar bicaj, ivan gvozdenović, pero pejić, sebino plaku , daniel xhafa, had been teammates @ kf tirana. made debut club in 2012 albanian supercup, started game substituted off in second half in 2–1 defeat former side tirana. impressed in first season @ skënderbeu korçë, despite competition in centre of midfield captain bledi shkëmbi , nurudeen orelesi. on 3 october 2012, scored first goal in 20 months against olimpik in 7–2 albanian cup win saw him receive red card in 85th minute. scored in next game on 6 october in superliga match against shkumbini peqin. featured in 20 league games , scored 4 league goals side retain superliga title third consecutive season. in albanian cup, scored 4 goals in 5 appearances, including side s goal in semi finals against bylis ballsh, knocked out skënderbeu korçë after 2–1 aggregate win on 2 legs. scored 8 times in 30 games in competitions in 2012–13 season.

as lilaj s side won league previous season, began 2013–14 campaign playing in second qualifying round of champions league, played against azerbaijani side neftchi pfk, skënderbeu korçë defeated 1–0 on aggregate after time, both legs ended in goalless draws in regulation time. in next round faced kazakh side shakhter karagandy, defeated skënderbeu korçë 3–0 in first leg, lilaj , side showed resilience in return leg went 3–0 in opening 29 minutes, concede twice either side of half time win game 3–2 lost tie 5–3 on aggregate saw them knocked out of champions league. did, however, qualify playoff round of europa league, drawn against ukrainian side chornomorets odesa, first leg in ukraine ending in 1–0 loss skënderbeu. in return leg in albania, side won game 1–0 , took tie time, did not produce goals meaning tie went penalties spot in group stage of europa league. lilaj took side s fifth penalty , converted, teammates nurudeen orelesi , bakary nimaga missed next 2 penalties side lost 7–6.

on 12 august 2014, lilaj signed two–year contract polish ekstraklasa side ruch chorzów, completed medical , presented media, move annulled. therefore returned skënderbeu korçë season albanian side claimed have automatically renewed contract @ end of 2013–14 season year.

on 5 november 2015, lilaj scored twice in under 20 minutes skënderbeu recorded 3–0 victory on sporting cp in 2015–16 uefa europa league group stage. first goal scored after teammates peter olayinka , esquerdinha missed opportunities, lilaj netted in rebound put skënderbeu ahead 1–0. second came penalty spot teammate liridon latifi fouled sporting goalkeeper rui patrício, sent off. lilaj scored resulting penalty past substitute goalkeeper marcelo boeck put skënderbeu 2–0 @ elbasan arena. skënderbeu ran out 3–0 winners , recorded first ever win in major tournament.

on 28 december 2015, lilaj named albanian superliga player of year.

in summer of 2017, lilaj played vital rol in skënderbeu s 2017–18 uefa europa league qualifying rounds campaign, team achieved group stage second time ever , become first albanian club pass 4 rounds. goal narrow position in returning leg of second qualifying round against kairat on 20 july deciding skënderbeu won 2–0 , progressed 3–1 on aggregate.

lilaj enjoyed profilic form @ start of championship, scoring penalty spot against flamurtari vlorë in opening week, partizani tirana in week 3, kukësi in week 4, teuta durrës in week 7 , luftëtari gjirokastër in week 8, lifted tally 5 league goals, new personal best. skënderbeu finished first phase 25 points 9 matches, record in albanian football.