BSK Banja Luka fell to Sloga Doboj 0:1 in the Premier League's fourth round on Saturday. The away side took all three points despite having fewer shots on target and less possession than their hosts.
And here's the thing about the 26th minute — Chuca's goal wasn't built from sustained pressure. Doboj had barely 43 per cent of the ball but found the space they needed. Four shots on target for Banja Luka against one from the visitors tells you how possession can deceive.
Banja Luka threw bodies forward after the break, making three substitutions in the space of three minutes. Seslak, Ferreiroa and Dizdarevic came on at 58 and 59 minutes, hoping to add something. M. Savic, who had picked up a yellow card twelve minutes in, was among those replaced.
By then the match had shifted. A red card at 72 minutes changed everything — Banja Luka playing with ten men for the final eighteen minutes. Chuca, the goalscorer, was brought off himself at 76 minutes, perhaps a precaution given his earlier booking.
The statistics show a match where dominance didn't translate. Banja Luka recorded 107 attacks against 96 for Doboj, with 11 shots to five. Yet only one shot found the net. By then the visitors had already secured what they needed.
Banja Luka sit eighth with three points from five games. Doboj move up to fourth on five points after four matches. The gap between them is now two points, and the away side have shown they can compete when it matters.