Spartak Trnava defeated Hibernians 2-1 in the first leg of the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round at the Tony Bezzina Stadium on Thursday.
The visitors took a deserved lead towards the half-hour but although Hibernians equalised eleven minutes from time, Spartak Trnava were quick to regain the lead thanks to a penalty.
Hibernians coach Branko Nisevic handed goalkeeper Laurentiu Branescu, Aiden Zammit, Pedro Cacho and Pablo Alves their debut while another three new signings, Charleston, Cleiton and Duane Bonnici were included as substitutes.
The Paolities had a couple of good scoring opportunities early in the game,. Miullen pounced on a through ball and rounded a defender before trying his luck with a shot from the edge of the area ending just wide on 7 minutes. Following a backpass by a defender and an erratic clearance by goalkeeper Ziga Frelih, the ball bounced onto Miullen but bounced in front of goal with the goalkeeper regaining possession.
Spartak Trnava hit back with a great pass by Michal Duris for Philip Azango whose fine curling shot from the right just missed the target on 19 minutes.
The Slovaks managed to take the lead on 27 minutes when off a cross by Roman Procjazka from the left, Libor Holik slotted the ball home past Branescu from close range, anticipating Pedrao.
Ten minutes later, Branescu turned into a corner a fine Prochazka effort from the left while one minute in added time, Filip Twardzik delivered a corner from the right the ball was deflected by a defender and Milos Kratochvil had a shot from inside the area blocked by Branescu.
Eight minutes in the second half, the Hibernians goalkeeper managed to turn into a corner a cross from the left.
With twelve minutes to go, in a swift counter break for Hibernians, Bjorn Kristensen sent Lucas Villela through but the latter’s goal-bound effort was blocked by a defender.
HIbernians levelled matters on 79 minutes when off a corner from the right by Lucas Caruana, substitute Charleston’s powerful headed beat goalkeeper Frelih.
However two minutes later, Charleston tried to head the ball back to the goalkeeper with Timotej Kudlicka intercepting the ball only to be brought down by Branescu. Referee Visar Kastrati ordered a penalty and captain Roman Prochazka restored the lead from the penalty spot.
Spartak Trnava could have added another a couple of minutes later but Kudlicka missed an incredible chance when served by Paur from the left. Eight minutes in added time, Kudlicka was also unlucky to hit the upright.
The second leg will be played in Trnava on Thursday with the winning side facing the winner of the clash between FK Sarajevo of Bosnia Herzegovina and Universitatea Craiova of Romania in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League.
HIBERNIANS Laurentiu Bransecu, Silas Alfred Hamanjoda, Lucas Villela, Pedro Cacho (69’ Lucas Caruana), Miullen (75’ Cleiton), Jurgen Degabriele (69’ Alex Bruno), Bjorn Kristensen, Pablo Alves (72’ Duane Bonnici), Aiden Zammit (69’ Charleston), Matthew Ellul, Pedrao.
SPARTAK TRNAVA Ziga Frelih, Patrick Nwadike, Libor Holik, Roman Prochazka, Philip Azango (61’ TImotej Kudlicka), Milos Kratochvil (83’ Giorgi Moistsrapishvili), Kristian Kostrna, Martin Mikovic (90+5′ Roko Jureskin), Filip Twardzik, Michal Duris (90+5′ Hilary Gong), Cedric Badolo (61’ Jakub Paur).
Referee: Visar Kastrati (KOS)
Assistant Referees: Besnik Morina, Granit Hyseni (KOS)
Fourth Official: Alban Shala (KOS)