Uefa Conference League: Shamrock Rovers 0 NK Celje 2 (Kovacevic 33, 40)
An October collapse. Suddenly, Shamrock Rovers near flawless season is unravelling.
The 4-1 hammering to Sparta in Prague on October 3rd was hardly a surprise, considering the opposition, but failure to secure the point needed to win another League of Ireland title got away from them at home to Shelbourne and away to St Patrick’s Athletic. And now this.
Regulars at Tallaght’s theatre of European football have seen this play before. The actors came from Slovenia, an impressive multicultural side strolling down Whitestown Way in search of a stress-free three-points in front of 6,076 supporters.
The plan was simple enough. Juanjo Nieto would overlap down Rovers left flank, pinning Josh Honohan and allowing the Spanish right-back to find Croat striker Franko Kovacevic, who would score his 22nd goal of the season.
RM Block
Kovacevic had 23 goals by half-time with two strikes bringing his European total to eight for the campaign.
What Celje did not bank on was Honohan’s ability to match Nieto in some compelling duels as Pico Lopes went about putting manners on the big target man.
Up the other end, Rory Gaffney initially held his own when showing for dirty ball.
Rovers needed to keep it tight. Easier said than done against superior opponents.
Celje appeared to take the lead after 11 minutes only for Kovacevic’s finish to be disallowed for offside or for dragging out of Daniel Cleary. Or both. VAR and Czech referee Ondrej Berka needed five minutes to make an obvious decision. No goal. Free out.
That lifted Rovers’ confidence with tensions also rising when Mario Kvesic failed to get Dylan Watts sent off. As the midfielder’s trailing hand touched Kvesic’s face, he collapsed in agony only to miraculously recover within seconds.
There were extras everywhere as the fourth official was busy keeping Celje manager Albert Riera and Rovers coach Glenn Cronin away from each other.
Honohan versus Nieto developed into the contest of the night, with the Cork man refusing to go off his feet before he won possession and picked a pass for Danny Mandroiu to launch a rare counter-attack.
It was the sort of composure that the Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson could use now his regular left-backs Ryan Manning and Robbie Brady are unavailable for next month’s World Cup qualifier against Portugal.
The game was competitive until the 33rd minute when Kovacevic stood up Lopes and finished past Ed McGinty.
Before Rovers could regroup, Celje led 2-0. Kovacevic, again, benefited from sloppy defending at the back post as Lukasz Bejger’s karate-kick-cross allowed his number nine to chest the ball into an empty net.
Gaffney almost revived the contest with a speculative flick that Bejger half-blocked and Zan-Luk Leban got down to save.
Rovers were faced by a familiar conundrum; all-out attack to salvage a draw came with the risk of conceding a third goal. After Nieto’s shot stung McGinty’s hands, the second scenario seemed more likely than the first.
It guaranteed a sticky second half when Leban proved unbeatable as he pushed a Lopes back-heel to safety.
Rovers manager Stephen Bradley signalled the quality of Celje in advance but three losses from four games this month heaps pressure on his players ahead of Sunday’s trip to the Brandywell.
It is almost impossible for Derry City to close a six-point gap and bring the title north. They need two wins, an avalanche of goals and hope that Rovers lose at home next week to Galway United and Sligo Rovers.
Five days after the league concludes on Saturday week, Rovers face AEK Athens in Greece with a three day turnaround to the FAI Cup final against Cork City before three more European ties up to Christmas week.
The issue now, quite suddenly, is that Shakhtar Donetsk, Breidablik and Hamrun are looking like dead rubbers.
The long journey to Derry should refocus the Hoops.
Shamrock Rovers: McGinty; Matthews (Grace 58), Cleary, Lopes, O’Sullivan, Honohan; Malley (McEneff 62), Healy, Watts (McGovern 83); Mandroiu (Burke 58); Gaffney (Noonan 83).
Celje: Leban; Nieto, Karnicnik, Tutyskinas, Bejger; Hrka (Daniel 55), Kvesic (Vidovic 83), Lisakovich (Avdyli 55); Iosifov, Kovacevic (Poplatnik 83), Strum (Vancas 87).
Referee: Ondrej Berka (Czech Republic).
