OMONOIA SEE EUROPEAN JOURNEY END IN CROATIA

Omonoia are eliminated from the UEFA Conference League in the Knockout Round for the second time in as many years, their fate sealed with a 3-1 loss away to Croatian side Rijeka in Rijeka. Omonoia got off to a good start through an early goal from Muamer Tankovic, and for 52 minutes, it was all going fine. However, the hosts would respond, and a pair of fatal mistakes from backup goalkeeper Francis Uzoho put Omonoia on ice. With last week’s loss at home, the final aggregate was 4-1. Omonoia are in first place in the Cypriot league, and the rest of their season will be about seeing that through as they bid to win their first championship in 5 years.

Omonoia visited Rijeka at the HNK Rijeka Stadion in Rijeka. Francis Uzoho had to start in goal with Fabiano being badly injured in the Nicosia Derby on Sunday. The first chance fell to Rijeka, but Samuele Vignato shanked it wide. An Omonoia free kick found its way to Senou Coulibaly, wearing the armband with Ioannis Kousoulos not starting and Fabiano out, but his free header went just wide.

Thirteen minutes in, Omonoia got what they were looking for. A fortuitous bounce came to Ryan Mmaee who played a through ball to Muamer Tankovic, who placed a good finish past Martin Zlomislic to give Omonoia a 1-0 lead, levelling the aggregate.

Stjepan Radeljic tried to restore Rijeka’s advantage but he missed the target. Mmaee continued wheeling and dealing, and made a nice pass to Ewandro Costa, but his shot was right at Zlomislic. Radeljic had a header from outside the box, but Francis Uzoho caught it with no problem. An Omonoia corner found the head of Willy Semedo, but his header lacked power and was scooped up by Zlomislic. Tiago Dantas missed the net from outside the box, and the halftime score was 1-0 for Omonoia, the aggregate 1-1.

In the 52^nd minute, Rijeka responded. Dantas found Toni Fruk who seemed to be well-covered, but he got away from Giannis Masouras and snuck a shot through a narrow lane. Uzoho got a piece of it, but only enough for it to go off the inside of the post and in. 1-1 on the night, and now Rijeka were up 2-1 on aggregate.

Omonoia looked for another reply, Mmaee gave it a go with a powerful strike from a bad angle, and Zlomislic did well to not only control the rebound, but keep it in play and cover it. Vignato shanked one wide at the other end. Then Daniel Adu-Adjei, last week’s hero dribbled around Uzoho, but ran out of room for the finish which skidded along the goal line. Semedo did well to body Radeljic off the ball, but Zlomislic was there to turn him aside.

Instead Rijeka struck again, Adu-Adjei had a go from a severe angle, and Uzoho spilled the rebound right to Fruk who had all kinds of net to shoot at, and he buried it, 2-1 Rijeka for the match, 3-1 on aggregate in the 67^th minute.

Omonoia didn’t give up and seemed bound to get a penalty as Semedo was dumped in the box, but nothing was given. Instead another Uzoho mistake dealt the fatal blow. With the ball in the air, Jure Balkovec and Adu-Adjei jockeyed for position, and Uzoho decided to come out of the box to help. Instead, Balkovec retreated to allow Uzoho to play it, but the Nigerian keeper hesitated, Adu-Adjei came up with the ball instead, and with the net empty, he chipped it in, 3-1 for the night, 4-1 overall.

Rijeka(Ramiro Munoz): 13. Martin Zlomislic(GK, Captain), 28. Teo Barisic(’17 8. Dejan Petrovic), 45. Ante Majstorovic, 6. Stjepan Radeljic, 23. Justus Lasickas, 22. Ante Orec, 26. Tiago Dantas, 55. Alfonso Barco(’70 34. Milan Devetak), 19. Samuele Vignato(’80 11. Gabriel Rukavina), 18. Daniel Adu-Adjei(’80 77. Ante Matej Juric), 10. Toni Fruk(’80 14. Amer Gojak)

Omonoia(Henning Berg): 23. Francis Uzoho(GK), 21. Giannis Masouras, 28. Moses Odubajo(’70 2. Alpha Diounkou), 29. Jure Balkovec, 5. Senou Coulibaly(Captain), 6. Carel Eiting(’70 85. Angelos Neophytou), 74. Panagiotis Andreou, 22. Muamer Tankovic(’84 14. Mateo Maric), 11. Ewandro Costa(’61 82. Andreas Christou), 7. Willy Semedo(’84 10. Tasos Chatzigiovanis), 19. Ryan Mmaee

Andrew Mantzas

Twitter: @MantzasNC