LJUBLJANA. Slovenia topped Cyprus to win 2-1. A goal from A. Kakoulis was decisive in the 89min. All goals were scored in the second half. It was Slovenia to strike first with a goal of M. Zajc at the 48′. Then A. Gnezda Cerin scored again for Slovenia in the 84′ minute with a goal. Eventually, A. Kakoulis reduced the distance for Cyprus with a goal. However, that was it, and the result remained 2-1. Slovenia was surely superior in terms of ball possession (68%) was among the factors of its victory.
The match was played at the Stadion Stožice stadium in Ljubljana on Sunday and it started at 2:00 pm local time. The referee was Sergey Ivanov who had the assistance of Roman Usachev and Valeri Danchenko. The 4th official was Vladislav Bezborodov. The weather was drizzle. The temperature was cold at 7.7 degrees Celsius or 45.9 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 91%.
Match Statistics
Ball possession
Slovenia had a strong ball possession 68% while Cyprus was struggling with a 32% ball possession.
Attitude and shots
Slovenia was has a more offensive attitude with 76 dangerous attacks and 16 shots of which 4 were on target. This is one of the reasons why Slovenia won the match.
Slovenia shot 16 times, 4 on target, 7 off target. Regarding the opposition, Cyprus shot 4 times, 2 on target, 1 off target.
Cards
Slovenia received 2 yellow cards (J. Kurtic and P. Stojanovic). Regarding the opposition, Cyprus received 3 yellow cards (G. Kastanos, K. Artymatas and S. Andreou).
Match Timeline
Standings
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Group I
Group J
After playing this match, Slovenia will have 14 points like Slovakia to remain in the 4th place. Regarding the opposition, Cyprus will stay with 5 points like Malta to hold in the 5th place.
Next matches
Slovenia – Formation
Slovenia
45'
84'
48'
Slovenia started with a 4-2-3-1 line-up (4-2-3-1).
The manager Matjaž Kek decided to play with the following team: Jan Oblak , Petar Stojanović , Žan Karničnik , Miha Mevlja, Jaka Bijol , Jure Balkovec , Adam Gnezda Čerin , Jasmin Kurtić , Josip Iličić , Miha Zajc , Benjamin Verbič , Andraž Šporar and Žan Celar .
The home team had on the bench: Igor Vekić, David Tijanič, Sven Karič, Vid Belec, Leo Štulac , Blaž Vrhovec, Žan Rogelj, Sandi Lovrić and Nino Kouter.
Slovenia could not rely on the presence of S. Lovric (injured).
Substitutions
Slovenia made 3 changes: B. Verbic for S. Lovric (31′), M. Zajc for L. Stulac (84′) and Z. Celar for B. Vrhovec (90′).
Best player: Adam Gnezda Čerin
The player that probably impressed the most for Slovenia was Adam Gnezda Čerin.
His rating is with 1 goal, 99 passes (90% accurate) and 2 key passes. He was won 3 duels out of 5. He performed 1 cross.
Cyprus – Formation
Cyprus
Cyprus started with an extremely aggressive line-up (3-4-3).
Nikolaos ‘Nikos’ Kostenoglou played with: Neofytos Michael , Stelios Andreou , Konstantinos Laifis , Marios Antoniadis , Marios Dimitriou , Kostakis Artymatas , Grigoris Kastanos , Andreas Avraam , Fotis Papoulis , Pieros Sotiriou , Marinos Tzionis .
These were the players on the bench: Marios Ilia, Paris Psaltis, Ioakeim Toumpas, Andreas Karo, Costas Soteriou, Andronikos Kakoullis , Rafail Mamas, Dimitris Dimitriou, Georgios Efrem and Matija Špoljarić.
Cyprus could not rely on the presence of A. Kakoulis (injured).
Substitutions
Cyprus made 3 changes: M. Tzionis for G. Efrem (74′), F. Papoulis for A. Kakoulis (80′) and A. Avraam for M. Spoljaric (90′).
Best player: Grigoris Kastanos
The most impressive player for Cyprus was Grigoris Kastanos.
His rating is with 27 passes (85% accurate) and 2 key passes. He was won 8 duels out of 11. He performed 1 cross.
Results of the day
These are the results of the day in the WC Qualification Europe.
- Croatia – Russia – 1-0
- Malta – Slovakia – 0-6
- Slovenia – Cyprus – 2-1
- Armenia – Germany – 1-4
- Liechtenstein – Romania – 0-2
- North Macedonia – Iceland – 3-1
- Portugal – Serbia – 1-2
- Luxembourg – Republic of Ireland – 0-3
- Greece – Kosovo – 1-1
- Spain – Sweden – 1-0
