It's been a bad night for Croatian football.
Osijek – Austria Wien at City Garden (1:2)
Osijek was defeated 1:2 by Austria Wien in the first leg of the Europa League playoff round on August 17, 2017, reports Index.
The night started well enough: Osijek's Ejupi used the first opportunity and went for the shot in the 15th minute, making the game 1:0 for the home team.
Osijek was then saved from a great attempt by Serbesto when the ball hit the post; moments after, Šorša was awarded a penalty. It was at that moment of the game the whole stadium could already see Osijek in the group stage of the Europa League, but once Barišić went for the penalty and hit the post, thing started to go south for the home team. Austria's Monschein received a pass from Prokop and found the back of the net, making the score 1:1 at the end of the first half.
In the 60th minute, Holzhauser scored with a 20-metre free kick, getting Austria in the lead. Even though Osijek had more than 30 minutes left to level the score, the team seemed to have lost their wits and the game ended 2:1 for Austria.
The second leg is to be played in Vienna next Thursday; Osijek needs to score at least twice if they want to see the next stage of EL.
Dinamo – Skenderbeu at Maksimir (1:1)
Dinamo avoided a total defeat at home only by a stroke of pure luck in the 94 minute, Index reported.
The Albanian team had their first great attempt ten minutes into the game, when Vangjeli passed the ball to Latifi who went for the shot and made the score 1:0. The referee Treimanis mistakenly called offside and took a clean goal away from Skenderbeu.
Latifi got the visiting team in the lead with a goal in the 37th minute. In the second half, Dinamo seemed to have livened up and presented Skenderbeu's keeper with more than 10 attempts, five of those hitting the post. Just when everybody thought the game would be a win for the Albanian team, Henriquez went for a header in the 94th minute and made the score 1:1.
The second leg is set for August 24 in Elbasan.
#UEL play-off Dinamo - Skenderbeu 1:1 (Henriquez) ?? | Skenderbeu - Dinamo, 24.8., Elbasan Arena ⚽️ #DZG #nemapredaje pic.twitter.com/ERELU1Amnb
— GNK Dinamo (@gnkdinamo) August 17, 2017
Image credit: NK Osijek Twitter
