Olimpija Ljubljana defeated Nafta 1:0 at Stožice Stadium in the sixth round of the 1. SNL regular season on Friday evening. The match ended with a single goal from A. Marin in the 79th minute, a moment that proved decisive after an hour of cautious play. Olimpija took all three points and moved closer to the visitors in the standings, where Nafta sit fifth on ten points from eight games.
By then, the home side had controlled the tempo through possession. They held 61 per cent of the ball and registered 108 attacks against 76 for the visitors. Shots off target came 18 to 10, while shots on target showed 11 against 3. And here's the thing — one goal came from those numbers, which means chances went begging on both sides.
Yellow cards accumulated in the second half. A. Doffo received his in the 43rd minute, followed by A. Pihler just before half-time. D. Kobouri was booked in the 64th minute, and the final two came in stoppage time when M. Vidnyanszky and R. Pirtovsek picked up bookings. The home side ended with two yellows, the visitors with three.
Substitutions began in the 63rd minute when D. Mitrovski and F. Rose came on for Olimpija. Nafta responded in the same period with L. Pihler and A. Marosa. Further changes followed: L. Kambic in the 77th, K. Lavrencic in the 81st, M. Cuni in the 85th, and B. Lourenco in the 90th plus five.
Olimpija sit eighth on eight points from seven games, with two wins, two draws and three defeats. Their recent results include a 1:1 draw with Maribor and a 0:1 loss to Celje. Nafta's record shows three victories, one draw and four defeats from eight matches, with a 1:3 defeat to Celje most recently.
The goal difference remains tight in this part of the table. Olimpija's single win at home extended their unbeaten run to two games, while Nafta's defeat interrupted a sequence that had included a 5:2 victory over Mura. To be fair, the match was decided by one moment rather than sustained pressure.