BRATISLAVA, July 18 (Xinhua) -- After a disappointing 2019-20 season, Nitra Football Club managed to retain its spot in Slovakia's premier league (Fortuna Liga) after defeating Dubnica nad Vahom Football Club, the champion of the second-tier league, 3-0 on Friday.
Nitra ended up in the last place in the recently ended Fortuna Liga and was forced to fight to stay in its next edition.
The opportunity to challenge Nitra was granted to the winner of the second league, Dubnica nad Vahom, in a best-of-two match-up.
After a goalless draw from the first leg played on Tuesday, Nitra, once a club ranked among the best teams in the country, put on a rare scoring show on home turf and triumphed with a clear, three-goal difference.
It only took the home team seven minutes to score the opener, making good use of their first chance of the game.
Sebastian Kosa was left unguarded on a corner kick and had no trouble directing his volley shot into the net, scoring his first-ever goal in Nitra's jersey.
Marek Ristovski capitalized on a penalty awarded just 13 minutes later during another corner kick to crush Dubnica nad Vahom's chance of making it into the Slovak top league.
When everything was decided and the visitors were down one man after his second booking, Tomas Hambalek set the final score in the last minute after a nice cross from the right side, registering his first goal in Nitra's A-team. Enditem
