In the final meeting of the first group, David Strelec ensured victory for the home team, who scored in the 72nd minute. The Slovaks took the final second place and will fight for the higher division in the March play-off against one of the four Georgia, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland.
The final order in the table was already decided on Saturday, when the Swedes beat Slovakia 2:1 and secured direct promotion to the B-division. Thanks to Strelec, “Falcons” equaled the historical record of the national team from 2011, when they netted a goal in 13 games in a row. Against the opponent from the Baltics, they won by the narrowest margin in the fourth of four matches. The play-off is played on the home-away system on March 20 and 23, the draw will take place on Friday.
SLOVAKIA – ESTONIA 1:0 (0:0)
Goal: 72. Sagittarius
ŽK: Sauer – Saliste, Mets, referees: Redder – Yurdakul, Risum (all Danish), 4317 spectators
Lineups and substitutions:
Slovakia: Greif – Gyömbér, Vavro, Obert, Hancko – Bero, Lobotka (60. Hrošovský), Bénes (88. Rigo) – Suslov (77. Schranz), Boženík (46. Strelec), Tupta (60. Sauer)
Estonia: Hein – Paskotczy, Saliste (71st Peetson), Mets, Schjönning-Larsen – Poom (60th Shein), Palumets (87th J. Tamm) – Yakovlev, Kristal (71st Vetkal), Siňavskij (71st Kuraksin) – A .
The Slovaks started to press right from the start and the first shot came from the left side of Tupta. He missed the goal, but a few seconds later came a more accurate attempt by Boženík, who threatened goalkeeper Hein twice in the opening ten minutes. In the next course, both the home team and the guests tried to transfer the game quickly through the air, but both defenses were reliable. “Falcons” started to be more dangerous again after half an hour of the game. Obert first found Boženík in front of the goal, who was offside, and Bénes also got a great chance. He hit the crossbar after Lobotka ran into him in the penalty area, who tried the same with Vavro before the break. However, the defender hesitated and the guests went to break for several times in the match after a mistake by the Slovaks. Even in this case, Greif was not threatened.
Home coach Bonomi sent Strelec into the game instead of Bozeník at halftime. His team was active in front of the opponent’s 16 at the beginning of the second half, but in the end it lacked accuracy and ideas. After an hour of play, Bonomi sent Hrošovský into the game instead of Lobotka, and Sauer replaced Tupta. A great chance came a little later, when Suslov held one of the opponents on the right side and left the ball to Bénes. The midfielder took it upon himself and hit the post from a distance. Hancko got another chance, but Hein made a good save. The game was finally decided in the 72nd minute by Strelec with an exhibition wrap from the right side. After this goal, activity also came on the opposite side, where coach Henn started a triple substitution, but the “falcons” were able to defend themselves.
