MSK Zilina grab final spot in UEFA Conference League qualifiers
May 29, 2021
Bratislava (Slovakia) May 29: MSK Zilina defeated FC ViOnZlateMoravce in the mini-playoff final by 3-2 in overtime on Friday to grab a spot in the UEFA European Conference League qualifiers.
They will join FC DAC 1904 DunajskaStreda and FC Spartak Trnava, who secured direct spots in the new tournament by finishing second and third in the 2020/21 Fortuna Liga season.
The first half produced an attractive scoring fest with both teams putting the ball into the back of the net twice. ZlateMoravce's top scorer Filip Balaj opened the scoring 13 minutes into the game with a header from a corner.
David Hrncar capitalized on a cross from Greek striker Alexandros Kyrizidis 11 minutes later and stretched the visitors' lead to 2-0.
Late in the first half, VAR took center stage. In the 43rd minute, a clash resulted in Zilina being awarded a penalty which VahanBichakhchyan took advantage of. During added time, an almost identical situation led to a second penalty, and again, the young Armenian midfielder stepped up and scored, tying the game at 2-2 before the break.
Zilina had several promising opportunities to complete the turnaround in the second half, but none of them ended in a goal, resulting in extra-time to decide the winner.
The home team continued to put ZlateMoravce under pressure and substitute TaofiqJibril became the hero of the day in the 101st minute by scoring the winner and completing Zilina's superb turnaround.
Source: Xinhua
