Hajduk kicked off their season today at 8 pm at Poljud, taking on Slovakia’s Žilina in the first round of Europa League qualifiers. The Split side won the first leg 2-0.
Hajduk head into their new European challenge on the back of a successful pre-season spell in Slovenia, where Gonzalo Garcia’s side picked up three wins.
Garcia won’t be able to call on Bamba for the season opener, after he picked up a red card in last season’s final European outing, but he does have four new signings at his disposal — center-back Alec Van Hoorenbeeck, right-back Mathieu Acapandie, midfielder Alberto del Moral, and forward Dalisson.
Lineups
ŽILINA: Badžgon – Palisčak, Kaša, Narimanidze – Hranica, Kačer, Bzdyl, Bari – Faško, Koša – Roginić
HAJDUK: Silić – Acapandie, Van Hoorenbeeck, Marešić, Hrgović – Pukštas, Pajaziti – Brajković, Dalisson, Melnjak – Šego
Match report
The match got off to a lively start, with Žilina forcing the first shot of the game in the 3rd minute when Faško struck from 18 meters.
Hajduk should have taken the lead moments later. In the 4th minute, Brajković broke through down the right but was stopped inside the Žilina box. The ball fell to Melnjak, whose cross struck one of the Slovak players, prompting appeals from Hajduk for a handball.
In the 6th minute, Pajaziti tried to find Šego in space after a good move down the right. They came even closer in the 7th minute, when Dalisson played a superb vertical ball into Melnjak, who drove into the box and tried to set up Šego, only for Narimadze to make a crucial clearance for a corner.
Žilina hit back in the 9th minute with a chance of their own. Faško dragged two defenders out of position before releasing Hranica, who burst through one-on-one with Silić. Moments later, Hajduk won two corners in quick succession, though neither posed a real threat to the Žilina goal.
The game settled before Pukštas drove into the Žilina box and whipped in a cross in the 12th minute, which Kaša did well to clear for another corner.
Hajduk’s first real sight of goal came in the 16th minute, when Melnjak cut in from the left and attempted to catch the Žilina goalkeeper, but he managed to beat it away. The rebound fell to Šego, whose follow-up was blocked by a Žilina defender. In the 18th minute, Melnjak floated a high ball towards Šego, who timed his run into the space well, but the Žilina goalkeeper got there first.
Hajduk finally made the breakthrough in the 22nd minute. Acapandie found Brajković, who shifted the ball past Bari with a feint, drove into the box, and finished into the far top corner from a tight angle. The goal was briefly checked for a possible offside in the 23rd minute, but it was confirmed clean and play continued.
1-0 for Hajduk!
Hajduk were almost made to pay for a defensive lapse in the 24th minute. Marešić played a back-pass towards Silić, who had drifted towards the left side of his goal, and the ball rolled too close to finding the net, but it rolled just wide and out for a Žilina corner.
Hajduk pressed on, and in the 33rd minute Šego tried his luck with a volley that flew just wide of the target. He had another missed chance in the 35th minute, when Brajković’s header teed him up for a clear run into the Žilina box, but with just the goalkeeper to beat in a one-on-one, Šego fired wide. The first half ended 1-0 for Hajduk.
Hajduk didn’t have to wait long to make it 2-0. In the 49th minute, Dalisson marked his official debut in style, hitting a superb strike from 20 meters into the bottom left corner after being teed up by Brajković.
In the 55th minute, Dalisson struck a shot from distance that was blocked, only for the assistant referee to flag that the ball had already gone out of play. A minute later, Dalisson looked to slip a pass beyond Melnjak, but the ball lacked the necessary weight and was cut out by Žilina.
Žilina won a corner in the 61st minute, but Silić collected it easily. Hajduk hit back immediately. Dalisson and Hrgović both had shots blocked, winning a corner. Pajaziti curled to the far post where Pukštas headed goalward, but Badzgon saved it.
Žilina made a triple change in the 63rd minute, replacing Faško, Koša and Kaša with Ilko, Florea and Minarik.
Hajduk missed another chance in the 66th minute. Šego won the ball in the box and squared it to Pajaziti, who shot over. He was off target again in the 67th, shooting wide.
In the 70th minute, Žilina broke into Hajduk’s box but Silić beat Ilko to the ball. Adang replaced Kačer for Žilina in the 71st minute. Huram came on for captain Melnjak in the 73rd minute and almost scored immediately in the 75th.
Hajduk made a double substitution in the 79th minute, Del Moral and Hodak replacing Dalisson and Brajković. Datko came on for Hranica in the 82nd minute.
Hrgović picked up a yellow card for a foul in the 84th minute. In the 86th minute, Marko Livaja replaced Šego, greeted with a loud ovation from the Poljud crowd.
The match fell slightly in the final minutes and four minutes of stoppage time were added. Hajduk held on to clinch the 2-0 win. The two teams meet again next Thursday for the second leg in Slovakia.
