Žilina II edge past Inter Bratislava with late resilience
Žilina II secured a narrow victory over Inter Bratislava in the Second League's second Regular Season round on Monday, winning 1-0 at home to the hosts. The visitors took the lead through T. Diouf in the twenty-second minute, and despite being outnumbered in possession, they held firm. By then, Inter had already begun to show signs of frustration as their attacks multiplied without reward.
The match turned decisively in the second half when M. Sulla received a red card in the eighty-second minute, leaving the hosts to play with ten men for the final ten minutes of regulation time. Inter had already made three substitutions by that stage — M. Kusnir, G. Barcik and A. Toth — trying to find an equaliser. Žilina II responded with two changes of their own, bringing on M. Pekelsky and A. Lami to see out the game.
It was a strange contest where Inter controlled the ball but struggled to create clear chances. They registered fifty-four percent possession yet managed only one shot on target, while Žilina II found the target twice with less of the ball. The visitors had just three corners to Inter's twelve, another indication of how the game played out — pressure without penetration.
Discipline proved costly for the hosts. M. Pavlik picked up a yellow card in the sixty-sixth minute, and two more bookings arrived in stoppage time, one unnamed and another to T. Stanik. Inter threw everything forward after the red card but ran out of legs, and the visitors' defence held strong despite the pressure. The final substitution for Žilina II came in the ninety-second minute when B. A. Sowah was brought on.
The result moves Žilina II closer to the top of the table, sitting fourth with thirteen points from seven games. Inter Bratislava remain tenth with eight points, two wins and two draws from the same number of fixtures. They had nothing to do all evening in terms of cutting chances, and cannot afford another slip if they want to climb away from the bottom half.