Whichever bench he sits on, Olimpija is a nightmare for Damir Krznar: Croat defeated for the first time, derby decided by hot Rui Pedro

Published on 5. November 2023 6. November 2023

Source of photo: NK Olimpija Ljubljana

Olimpija remains a painful thorn in Damir Krznar‘s side. The latter has already suffered a lot as a coach of Maribor, and now he have also suffered his first defeat as a coach of Celje. The Ljubljana team won the Telemach First League derby 1-0, after the only goal of the match was scored by the league’s leading scorer Rui Pedro, who successfully converted an penalty in the first half.

Despite the defeat, Celje remains in first place in standings, Koper is second with three points less, while Olimpija is now five points behind in third place.

The visitors had the first serious chance of the match when a header in the 16th minute was saved by the keeper. Matko Obradovic had to stop the ball in the first minute. Celjani made their first serious start in 31. In the first minute, a shot by Luka Bobičanec from distance is saved by Denis Pintol. Just a few moments later, the Ljubljana team counter-attacked, after which Nemanja Motika fell in the penalty area after contact with Damjan Vuklišević, and referee David Šmajc had no hesitation in pointing to the white dot. The harshest penalty was converted by the top scorer of the Slovenian national championship, Rui Pedro, to put his team in the lead. Just before the end of the first half, Edmilson, the home striker, headed past the post.

In his half-time statement, the Counts’ captain Denis Popovic highlighted his dissatisfaction with the refereeing when he said that today Celje is playing against Olimpija and someone else, adding that he now understands some of the statements made by Josip Iličić last season.

V 64. In the first minute, Mark Zabukovnik found Tamar Svetlin in the visitors’ penalty area, but he was unable to beat Denis Pintola. In the very next attack, Jorge Silva sent a dangerous cross in front of the home goal, but Matko Obradovic managed to intercept it. In 71st Zoran Zeljković‘s squad was relieved to see the visitors’ captain Timi Max Elšnik come back into the game after suffering pain in the last league match against Aluminij in Stožice exactly one week ago.

A minute later, Vuklisevic had a great chance to level the score, but Pintol deflected his shot from close range. With just over ten minutes left in regulation, the visiting defence made a big mistake in front of their own goal, but in another direct Bobičanec – Pintol duel, the latter was the winner. The home team had one last chance to tie the game in the 85th minute. Lovro Bizjak had a chance in the first minute, but from a good position he couldn’t even hit the frame of the visitors’ goal.

Damir Krznar suffered his first defeat since he sat on the bench in Knez, while Zoran Zeljković can breathe a bit of a sigh of relief after a couple of poor performances from his charges.