Hajduk Seal Conference League Play-Off Spot with Dominant 4-0 Win Against Žalgiris

Hajduk took on Žalgiris at Poljud in the return leg of the third qualifying round for the Conference League. The Split side easily defended a 5-2 advantage secured in Lithuania seven days ago, winning 4-0 with a 9-2 aggregate. They will face Raków from Poland in the Conference League play-off round next week.

Lineups

Hajduk: Silić – Acapandie, Marešić, Raci, Melnjak – del Moral, Pajaziti – Šutalo, Dalisson, Šoticek – Livaja

Žalgiris: Sarkauskas – Šešplaukis, Lupano, Bosančić, Franke – Kendysh, Capan – Golubickas, Bilenkyi, Teixeira – Petković

Match report

The match got underway in Split at 9 pm.

The match got underway in Split, and Hajduk should have taken an early lead. In the 4th minute, Šotiček played Livaja through in the Žalgiris penalty area, leaving the Hajduk captain with only the goalkeeper to beat. Livaja struck it hard, but the ball flew over the bar — had it gone in, the goal would likely have been checked for a possible offside.

Just a minute later, Dalisson also went close, shooting from around 10 meters out, only for the Žalgiris goalkeeper to make the save. Melnjak then tested the visitors in the 11th minute, firing an effort that flew just wide of the post.

Hajduk continued to dominate, though by the 15th minute the scoreline remained unchanged from kick-off. In the 21st minute, Šotiček had a go from around twenty meters out, but his effort drifted past the goal.

In the 25th minute, Šutalo whipped in a cross from the right for Melnjak, though Kendysh got there first and headed it behind for a corner. Moments later, Dalisson produced a smart piece of defending to snuff out a Žalgiris counter-attack, carrying the ball forward some 20 meters himself before attempting to slip in a teammate — the pass was poorly executed, however, and the promising move broke down.

The game then went through a quieter spell without any major incident, and Hajduk’s resulting corners in the 28th minute failed to trouble the visitors.

In the 33rd minute, Raci tried his luck from distance, but his low effort was comfortably saved by the away goalkeeper. With 10 minutes left until the break, the half had so far been played out under Hajduk’s dominance: the hosts had squandered two big chances, held a 8-1 advantage in shots, led 4-1 on corners and enjoyed 68% of possession to the visitors’ 32%.

In the 38th minute, Franke sent in an awkward ball from the left flank, but no one managed to divert it goalwards. Marešić then blocked Bilenkyi’s follow-up attempt behind for a corner.

In the 41st minute, Šutalo earned a round of applause from the Poljud crowd. Livaja played a ball into space and the young Croatia international surged forward at the two Žalgiris defenders, who managed to stop him after he attempted to dribble past them twice. Hajduk’s right winger refused to give up, however, and won a foul and a free kick from the resulting phase of play. Nothing came of the set piece itself, though.

Hajduk dominated the first hald, but the score is 0-0 at half-time.

Hajduk finally broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute. Šutalo, excellent again, collected a long ball out on the right, drifted slightly infield, and picked out the run of Melnjak with a superb pass. Melnjak made no mistake from close range, tucking it away to make it 1-0!

In the 60th minute, Huram came on for Šotiček. In the 65th minute, Hajduk almost doubled their lead. Šutalo played it through to Livaja, who squared the ball in from the right into the box, where Melnjak was left completely unmarked to head it, but he sent his effort over the bar.

Dalisson then tried his luck from distance in the 66th minute, though his shot was off target. A minute later, Šutalo had a go himself from 18 meters out, but also failed to hit the target. In the 68th minute, Hajduk made a triple change, with Šego, Brruti and Sigur coming on to replace Livaja, Dalisson and Pajaziti.

Hajduk doubled their advantage in the 69th minute. Acapandie crossed from the right for Šego, whose effort cannoned off an opponent’s head, with the loose ball falling kindly for 17-year-old Huram. The teenager reacted brilliantly, turning smartly to fire home and make it 2-0.

In the 75th minute, Bamba came on for Šutalo and made it 3-0 five minutes later. Three minutes after that, Šego made it 4-0, which was the final result.

With this 9-2 aggregate, Hajduk moves on to the Conference League play-offs. The first leg will be played on August 20th at Poljud, with the return leg scheduled for August 27th.