Conference League: Cosmos and La Fiorita eliminated by the narrowest of margins

At the end of their ties in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League, La Fiorita and Cosmos share the same bitter outcome. A scoring draw at home, with the Sammarinese clubs breaking the deadlock on each occasion, followed by a narrow defeat away in matches where they also created chances to strike. La Fiorita were first to take the field at 19:00. The Gialloblù from Montegiardino, after an impressive 1-1 draw in the first leg, travelled to face Zimbru Chisinau. The Moldovan side found the goal that sealed qualification in the first half with a long-range strike from Dedechko, which Vivan was unable to keep out. La Fiorita relied on German Denis, excellent at leading the line on his own before bringing Casolla into play. Chances could be counted on the fingers of one hand, including two crosses – one for each side – where the forwards arrived a fraction of a second late. Crucially for the Sammarinese, there was a clear-cut chance on the right foot of Jacopo Semprini, who timed his run perfectly onto Amati’s cross and shot from close range. Agachi produced a monumental reaction save to keep the yellow-and-greens’ goal intact. Late in the half the hosts appealed for handball against Brighi after Stefan’s header, though their protests were waved away. There seemed to be no doubt, however, about the offside position of Casolla who, sent clear on goal, did manage to beat the Zimbru goalkeeper – but it did not count. Manfredini’s side stayed fully in the game after the break, pushing forward but unable to find the equaliser that would have forced extra time. As mentioned, things went no better for Cosmos, who last night hosted Sutjeska in front of around 600 spectators. There was an unexpected blow in the warm-up for Berardi, forced to do without Iodice through injury, with Adami Martins coming into the starting XI. The Gialloverdi had the better of the first half, despite the Montenegrin side threatening in an early goalmouth scramble – dealt with thanks to a superb reflex save from Simoncini to deny Markovic. Nisi and Maggioli fared no better from two subsequent set-piece situations for Cosmos, who took control of the match and began to create chances, mainly down the left flank. That was the pattern in the 22nd minute, when Errico’s run into the box was perfectly timed, as was Simic’s positioning to deny Prandelli what looked a certain goal. Sutjeska replied with a solo move by Matanovic, who played a smart through ball for Zivkovic; the forward attempted one dribble too many, allowing Di Maio to recover and clear at the last second. From the resulting corner, Markovic failed to hit the target with his header from a very promising position. That brought us to the key moment of the match, when Zulli and Errico combined down the flank to create space for Nisi’s left-footed effort, which was blocked at the near post. The ball fell to Zulli again and, on his scissor-kick, there may have been a handball by Nikolic. The referee let play continue and, as the move went on, the defence failed to clear properly, sending a looping ball to the edge of the box that Nisi met on the volley, scoring a superb and fully deserved opening goal for Cosmos, greeted by a roar around the San Marino Stadium. In the second half Berardi’s men dropped considerably deeper to protect Nisi’s strike, but were unable to exploit transitions on the break. In the 55th minute Markovic tried his luck from distance, but Simoncini dealt with it comfortably. The visiting striker had another good chance on 63 minutes, but was thwarted by a desperate block from Maggioli. The Montenegrin side camped in the final third and their constant pressure finally produced the decisive, if somewhat fortunate, episode for qualification. In the 73rd minute Simic beat Prandelli to the ball at the near post. Simoncini’s subsequent reflex save only delayed by a few seconds the equaliser from Krstovic. The midfielder found the ball at his feet less than a metre from goal and could not fail to find the back of the net. Cosmos were then forced into a final onslaught: on came Ben Kacem, who in the 84th minute took on and beat Nikolic for pace before firing a low cross towards the centre, where Licina hesitated and Simic nipped in ahead of Nisi, who was already eyeing his second of the night and, in all likelihood at that point, extra time. Sutjeska, on the counter in the 95th minute, failed to definitively kill off the extra-time prospect through Strikovic. That meant Cosmos had one last opportunity in the seventh minute of stoppage time: Ben Kacem earned a free-kick just outside the box, but set-piece specialist Boccioletti could not get the ball over the wall. Cosmos’ second European campaign, more than twenty years after their first, therefore ends with a painful draw.

---

UEFA Europa Conference League, First Qualifying Round | Zimbru-La Fiorita 1-0   ZIMBRU Agachi; Gaiu, Stefan, Dedechko, Misaras, Dedov; Raileanu (from 70' Burghiu), Djou, Soumah (from 29' Samiev, from 56' Damascan); Alaribe, Caruntu (from 70' Macritchii) Subs: Mostovei, Bitca, Ieseanu, Furtuna Head coach: Lilian Popescu   LA FIORITA Vivan; Arrigoni, Fatica, Brighi, Sottile; Nava (from 60' Guidi), Amati (from 83' Semprini), Paradisi (from 60' Costa); J. Semprini (from 60' Grassi), Denis (from 74' Olcese), Casolla Subs: Zavoli, Castellazzi, Pancotti Head coach: Thomas Manfredini   Referee: Mervan Bejtullahu (KOS) Assistant referees: Edmond Zeqiri (KOS) and Fatmir Sekiraqa (KOS) Fourth official: Dardan Çaka (KOS) Scorer: 35' Dedechko Booked: Soumah, Alaribe, Dedechko, Raileanu, Grassi Note: 4,200 spectators.  

---

UEFA Europa Conference League, First Qualifying Round | Cosmos-Sutjeska 1-1   COSMOS Simoncini; D'Addario, Maggioli, Di Maio, Adami Martins; Loiodice, Errico (from 61' Mularoni), Boccioletti; Nisi, Prandelli (from 75' Ben Kacem), Zulli (from 61' Pastorelli) Subs: Batori, Renzetti, Cucchi, Righini, Palazzi, Ottaviani Head coach: Nicola Berardi   SUTJESKA Licini; Grivic (from 46' Pajovic), Nikolic, Simic, Dinovic (from 46' Saletic); Krstovic, Matanovic; Vukovic (from 90'+3' Mohamed), Zivkovic (from 80' Zizic), Strikovic; Markovic (from 45'+4' Pavlovic) Subs: Dubljevic, Rudovic, Durkovic, Damjanovic, Babic, Anicic Head coach: Nenad Brnovic   Referee: Dominik Stary (CZE) Assistant referees: Kamil Hajek (CZE) and Marek Podany (CZE) Fourth official: Ladislav Szikszay (CZE) Scorers: 41' Nisi, 73' Krstovic Booked: Dinovic, Grivic, Loiodice, Simic, Renzetti, Pastorelli, Nisi, Vukovic Note: 559 spectators.

---