BRATISLAVA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Croatia rallied from one goal down to beat Slovakia 3-1 on Saturday in Group E, advancing to the play-off stage of the European Qualifiers.
The visitors had everything going for them in the first half of the match in Rijeka, Croatia. Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka produced several crucial saves for Slovakia before Robert Bozenik opened the score after a lucky redirect of a center pass.
Things changed quickly in the second half with heavy rainfall to the pitch. In a five-minute window, the home team managed to rally and turn their luck around. Nikola Vlasic's shot through the legs of a defender tied the game up and Bruno Petkovic's header on a corner kick put Croatia into the lead.
Slovakia's efforts got thwarted moments later as Robert Mak was shown his second yellow of the night and had to leave the pitch after an unnecessary foul in the center of the pitch.
Without much effort, the last year's World Cup finalists stretched their lead to 3-1 after Ivan Perisic's volley-shot from within the penalty box ended up behind Dubravka's back.
Croatia won Group E with 17 points. Slovakia was fourth with 10 points but still had a small chance of advancing into the play-offs.
