NK Olimpija's football players lost 0-2 at home to Slovakia's Spartak Trnava, after a contentious penalty and own goal by Ilić. Olimpija now face an uphill task in Trnava, if they are to progress to the group stage of the Europa League.

Nothing went according to Olimpija's plan, even though they had most of the possession (66:34) playing in front of around 7,500 fans. But all their attacks (19 shots on goal) were futile. Shortly after Marek Bakoš's goal from the penalty spot, Spartak were left without Martin Toth who received a red card and Olimpija played with one player more on the pitch for over an hour. The team did fire a couple of dangerous shots, but Olimpija's players were either unlucky or had their shots saved by goalkeeper Martin Chudy. On top of that, shortly after Toth's red card, Spartak scored their second goal ‘out of nothing’, after Branko Ilić headed the ball into his own net.

Toth penalised for his tackle on Issah
NK Olimpija were more dangerous at the start, but the visitors took the lead after their first serious attack. Rok Kronaveter blocked Martin Toth in the penalty area and the referee surprisingly pointed to the spot. Marek Bakoš successfully converted the penalty. He fired straight down the middle of the goal, while Olimpija's goalkeeper, Ivačić, took a dive to the left. In the 29th minute, Toth received a red card for his tackle on Abass Issah, who had broken away alone towards Spartak's goal.

Ilić's unlucky intervention
With one more player on the pitch, Olimpija did manage to score. But not in the way they would have liked! Branko Ilić was trying to head the ball out of the play, but instead he nodded it into the back of his own net. If an attacker had done this, we would call it a good shot, but, unwillingly, the captain of Olimpija suffered one of the most unpleasant moments in his career. The Slovene champions were the better in the first half, but the most beautiful opportunities were missed by Kronaveter. In the 10th minute, he received a long ball and took a shot at goal, but missed. In the 33rd minute, the ball was passed to him very precisely by Nik Kapun, but Kronaveter once again failed to score, missing the goal of Martin Chudy by a few centimetres.

Boateng alone in front of Chudy
At half time, Olimpija tried to forget those unhappy events and started the second half aggressively. Stefan Savić sent a dangerous ball down the left side in front of the goal. In the 63rd minute, Dino Štiglec shot from a distance and, in the 68th minute, he sent the ball into the penalty area, where the substitute Kingsley Boateng missed a great chance with his head. Olimpija continued to press and in the 77th minute, it looked like they might manage to break Spartak's defence. After a pass from Kronaveter, Boateng found himself in front of the goal, but Chudy quickly came forward and blocked his shot. With his substitutions, coach Aleksandar Linta placed his bets on attack, but, with the exception of a few shots, there were no real opportunities.

Kronaveter: It's like someone had a grudge against us
In stoppage time, Spartak could have scored yet again. Erik Grendel shot, but Vitalijs Maksimenko, who had replaced the injured Aris Zarifović, reacted well. "A huge disappointment, because we were by far the better side. I don’t know what went wrong. We’ve let in those cheap goals. There was never a penalty; we’ve given away an own goal etc. We had 100% chances. It’s like someone had a grudge against us. But we will not give up. We’re going to Slovakia to change the result," said Rok Kronaveter. The return match will be next Thursday in Trnava, and the overall winner will progress to the group stage of the Europa League.