Slovenia's Celje suffer second consecutive UEFA Europa League loss

Slovenian champions Celje lost 0:3 to the Cypriot champions Omonia in the UEFA Europa League, their second defeat in as many matches.

They are now next to last in the standings heading into another home match, against Red Bull Salzburg on 22 October, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

After losing to Bayer Leverkusen 0:2 on the road to open the league phase exactly a month ago, Celje faced on 15 October guests from Nicosia on their home turf, with the stands fairly empty for European standards.

The home team were lethargic and unconvincing, while the Cypriots were much more concrete in their attacks on the goal, knowing how to punish mistakes made by Celje players on defence.

It took Omonia only 17 minutes to score the first goal, with Jaden Montonor receiving a pass behind the back of the home team's defensive line, dashing into the box and scoring for 1:0 for the guests.

In the 59th minute, the Cypriot champions managed to outplay the home team's defence again, with the play culminating with a goal by Muamer Tanković, and in the 85th minute Senou Coulibaly sealed the deal with a goal that gave the guests a 3:0 lead.

Celje made just two shots on goal total.

Head coach Zoran Zeljković said that "everything went wrong", adding that the team were "bad after stealing the ball and also after losing the ball", having had no solutions once they came close to the goal.

Zeljković, who took over from Vitor Campelos a few days before the first round match with Bayer Leverkusen, added that he was taking responsibility for the loss and noted that Celje were going through a rough patch.

He insisted, though, on not changing his approach, which is based on defensive pressure and creativity in the middle to create space before the opponent's goal.

"We could have pulled back and just waited, surely, but as long as I'm the coach, we will not play that way."

Captain Mark Zabukovnik said that they had allowed too many easy chances to Omonia.

"We conceded cheap goals, and on the other hand, when we got close to their goal, we were not able to make that last pass," he said, congratulating the guests on the deserved victory.

Photo: NK Celje