BRATISLAVA, May 26 (Xinhua) -- After finishing in the penultimate position in the Relegation Group of the 2020/21 Fortuna Liga season, FK Senica has to face the runner-up of the second football division MFK Dukla Banska Bystrica in the fight for a spot in the next season of the Slovak football premiership.
Senica confirmed its favorite status by winning the first match-up of the best-of-three series 2-1 on Tuesday in Zvolen where Banska Bystrica is playing its matches due to stadium construction.
Senica's forward Tomas Malec stole the spotlight by scoring a brace. His first came in the 23rd minute when two defenders collided with their goalie trying to deflect a center pass by Vladimir Majdan, but the ball ended up near Malec who had no trouble scoring into the wide-open goal.
Four minutes into the second half, Malec stretched the lead to 2-0 on a rebound after his offensively active teammate, the defender Majdan sent another shot at Banska Bystrica's goal.
In the 63rd minute, Banska Bystrica managed to cut the deficit to one in a similar situation when Lukas Laksik capitalized on a rebounded ball after a teammate's shot. He almost leveled the game eight minutes later but his attractive overhead-kick goal was waved off due to an offside confirmed by the video referee.
"We are saddened by the defeat. It was the first time we had the video-referee technology on and it waved our goal off. There's nothing else for us to do but fight and work hard in order to attract Lady Luck. It's a best-of-three series, we still have a chance and we will fight for it in Senica," promised Banska Bystrica coach Stanislav Varga.
MFK Dukla Banska Bystrica - FK Senica 1-2 (series 0-1) Enditem
