JAGIELLONIA 1
Imaz 57
ĦAMRUN SPARTANS 0
Ħamrun Spartans produced a gutsy display against Polish side Jagiellonia, but it was still not enough to avoid a 1-0 defeat on their UEFA Conference League debut yesterday.
A second-half goal by Jesus Imaz turned out to be decisive for last year’s UEFA Conference League quarter-finalists, who needed to be at their best to overcome a resilient Ħamrun Spartans side who played the last 30 minutes with a player less.
Prior to the match, few gave the Spartans a chance of matching their more-quoted opponents, but on the day, Giacomo Modica’s players produced a very gallant display which saw them more than match their opponents.
In fact, the Spartans had the better chances in a balanced first-half and looked a solid bet to return home with a positive result.ż
However, a rare defensive lapse midway through the second half gave Jagiellonia the opening goal, and minutes later the Maltese side finished with a player less when Joseph Mbong was shown a straight red card to leave the team with a player less.
But despite their numerical advantage, the Spartans kept pushing forward and continued to pose a danger to the Polish defence.
But in the end, Jagiellonia held on to the win to start their campaign on a positive note.
Despite the defeat, there were a lot of positives to take for the Spartans who showed a lot of personality against a quality side who are bidding to go deep in the tournament.
The Maltese side showed that they have the quality to be competitive in the League Phase of the Conference League, starting from their next match against Swiss side Lausanne in two weeks’ time.
Jagiellonia threatened after four minutes when, in a swift attack, Pietuszewski backheeled the ball into the path of Pululu, who saw his shot deflected to a corner.
Ħamrun responded a minute later when, from an Ante Coric corner-kick, Domantas Simkus’ volley finished just over.
Despite the superior profile of their opponents, the Spartans showed no signs of fear and kept pushing forward in search of an opener.
The Spartans threatened again on nine minutes when, in a swift transition, Joseph Mbong found Saliou Thioune in space, and his low drive was well saved by Abramowicz.
Ħamrun reated their best chance came on 16 minutes when the excellent Thioune fed N’Dri Koffi inside the area and the Ivory Coast forward moved past his marker only for his shot to be palmed away by Abramowicz.
Jagiellonia finally threatened just before the half-hour mark when, from a corner taken by Bartlomiej Wdowik, Bernardo Vital’s header flew over.
On 33 minutes, the Spartans threatened again when Coric hit a fine swerving shot that forced Abramowicz into a spectacular one-handed save.
However, it was Jagiellonia who thought they found the breakthrough on 38 minutes when Pululu used his physical strength to dislodge Vincenzo Polito from clearing the ball and Jesus Imaz was on hand to fire home.
But the home fans’ joy was short-lived as the VAR officials intervened to annul the goal for foul play by Pululu on Polito.
On the restart, Jagiellonia started strongly, and it had to be a fine save from Bonello to deny them an opener.
From a corner action, Stojinovic’s angled header forced a fine save by the Malta goalkeeper.
The early pressure produced an opener on 58 minutes when Compri lost possession to Imaz, who advanced and hit a curling drive that gave no chance to Bonello.
More woes followed for the Spartans as three minutes later, Mbong was initially sanctioned for a tackle on Romanczuk, but after VAR intervened, referee Igor Stojchevski upgraded the booking to a red card.
With a player more on the pitch, Jagiellonia started to dominate the match, with Bonello showing great reflexes to keep out Pululu’s shot.
With his team down to ten men, Modica decided to haul off Simkus and bring in Jovan Cadenovic as he looked to add fresh energy to his team’s engine room.
On 73 minutes, the Spartans came agonisingly close to level matters when Koffi connected to Camenzuli’s cross but hit a defender, the ball remained there, and the Spartans striker was denied by the onrushing Abramowicz.
Thirteen minutes from time, Modica made a triple change when he withdrew Eder and his two forwards, Saliou Thioune and Koffi, with Mouad El Fasni, Semar Smajgalic, and Stijn Meijer.
Bjelicic came to Spartans’ exit when his last-ditch tackle denied Stojinovic from firing his team 2-0 ahead.
In stoppage time, Bonello produced another top-class save when he kept out Rallis’ shot.
The last chance of the match came for Ħamrun Spartans when Polito connected to Coric’s free-kick but headed over.
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