They trembled, but in the end rejoiced: Craiova led three times, but two comebacks from Maribor were enough for the advancement of the vijolični
Photo: NK Maribor
Slovenia will have three representatives in European competitions next week, with the last contribution coming from the footballers of Maribor, who for a while truly trembled against Craiova in Romania, but never actually feared for their survival in the competition.
The hosts attacked and sought a way to score, which presented itself to Maks Barišić in the 38th minute, but he failed to beat the goalkeeper Laurentiu Popescu in a one-on-one situation. The first wave of excitement for the home fans was created by Alexandru Mitrita in the 52nd minute, who capitalized on his individual quality. In the following minutes, the players of Ante Šimundža were denied a penalty, which the main referee Jasmin Sabotić should have awarded after Marko Božić fell, but the mistake was forgotten in the 68th minute when Josip Iličić equalized the score.
But the match returned to its previous rhythm just four minutes later when Grego Sierra put the Romanians back in the lead. The Maribor players responded again with a substitute, as Arnel Jakupović, who scored in his third consecutive appearance, more or less dispelled all doubts about who would advance.
But the drama was not over yet, as Elvir Koljić revived some last hopes for the home team in the 95th minute, but Craiova simply ran out of time. The purples have a home match next week against the weaker team from the clash between Vojvodina and Ajax.
This text was automatically translated using AI.
Author: editorial Football Planet
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