National Team: Slovenia score twice in each half to go top

It does not take long for the excitement to arrive at the San Marino Stadium in the clash between the Titans and Slovenia. Kek's men immediately seize the initiative and break through inside a hundred seconds thanks to a brilliant slaloming run from Karnicnik. His ball into the heart of the box squeezes through a forest of legs before reaching Vipotnik, ruthless on the finish. The visitors barely have time to celebrate the opener before having to deal with an injury to Blazic, who is replaced by Drkusic at the end of the 12th minute. The Slovenians find quick combinations around the edge of the area that the San Marino back line struggle to contain. That is how the second goal arrives shortly after the quarter-hour, tucked away by Mlakar. The Titans line up with a dynamic midfield and Lazzari playing off Vitaioli. The San Marino Academy youth product looks to act as a link-up man, showing no hesitation in managing the ball even under pressure. Out wide, Slovenia look dangerous: on 26 minutes Stojanovic gets in behind Tosi and pulls back for Sporar, who fails to make a clean connection with the ball. In the opposite half the duel between Drkusic and Vitaioli is electric – the pair tangling a couple of times on high balls. Kek's men threaten again as they evade Di Maio's attempted interception and open up a central corridor for Elsnik. Franciosi does well to track him and gets in the way of the shot, making Benedettini's save more straightforward. The same happens two minutes later, but Sporar's thunderous effort strikes the head of the Pietracuta defender, who requires treatment from the Biancazzurri medical staff. In the latter stages of the first half, San Marino's National Team find better positions on Slovenia's passing lanes overall, thereby easing some of the heavy defensive pressure. The final scare is a Mlakar header from a corner, the ball flying well wide. Costantini makes two changes at the break, introducing Capicchioni and Magi for Mularoni and Tosi. Slovenia fly out of the blocks again and Benedettini must launch himself into a risky but effective intervention off his line, before Lovric misses the target with an audacious chip. On 55 minutes the home goalkeeper produces a double save to deny Mlakar and Cerin. Kek's side keep pushing and are denied by the post through Lovric, whose free-kick is almost perfect. The Udinese midfielder adjusts his sights on the hour mark, finding the target with a left-footed strike from mid-range for Slovenia's third. Just beforehand, Costantini had withdrawn Vitaioli, entrusting Stefanelli's height with the task of holding up the ball to give his team-mates a breather and allow them to push up. Slovenia find their fourth on 67 minutes through Karnicnik, on target with a tap-in after a monumental save from Benedettini on yet another Lovric header. The San Marino Stadium holds its breath in the 72nd minute when Lazzari bursts forward into the final third and tries to catch Oblak out from distance, but the Atletico Madrid goalkeeper quickly recovers his position and gathers the ball. Two minutes later, Zahovic produces an irresistible run down the flank, setting up what looks to be Cerin's finishing touch. However, a Polish VAR intervention overturns the decision of the Ukrainian referee's team, spotting the Panathinaikos midfielder in an offside position. Outside the ground, the safety operation is also underway: flares thrown from the South Stand trigger the beginnings of a small fire at the foot of the Galazzano hillside. After a few minutes of joint intervention from the Fire Service and the Gendarmerie, the blaze is quickly brought under control. On the pitch, Stefanelli earns the applause of the crowd for a determined, driving run with the ball at his feet through three opponents, powering past them before unleashing a speculative left-footed effort from long range that poses no threat to Oblak. At the other end, his counterpart Benedettini is called into a crucial block with his foot to deny Verbic's left-footed effort from point-blank range, which is then ruled out anyway for an offside team-mate in the line of the shot. Just before stoppage time is indicated, Costantini makes his final change, replacing Di Maio with Cevoli. Earlier, Lunadei had come on for Michael Battistini. In the four minutes of time added on by Ukrainian referee Balakin, there is nothing further to report: Slovenia win 4-0 at the San Marino Stadium and move level at the top of Group H with Denmark, who beat Finland in the afternoon thanks to a late goal from Højbjerg. The Titans pay the price for the most testing period of the year, having faced both group leaders, and now look ahead to October for matches against Northern Ireland and Denmark themselves.

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European Qualifiers 2023, Matchday 6 | San Marino-Slovenia 0-4   SAN MARINO E. Benedettini; Franciosi, Di Maio (from 87' Cevoli), Rossi; D'Addario, Golinucci, Mi. Battistini (from 74' Lunadei), Mularoni (from 46' Capicchioni), Tosi (from 46' Magi); Lazzari, Vitaioli (from 59' Stefanelli) Subs: A. Simoncini, S. Benedettini, Palazzi, Ceccaroli, F. Tomassini, Ma. Battistini, Hirsch Head coach: Fabrizio Costantini   SLOVENIA Oblak; Stojanovic (from 65' Balkovec), Blazic (from 12' Drkusic), Bijol, Karnicnik; Lovric, Cerin, Elsnik (from 71' Kurtic), Mlakar; Sporar (from 71' Zahovic), Vipotnik (from 65' Verbic) Subs: Belec, Vidovsek, , Stankovic, Sesko, Janza, Celar, Matko Head coach: Matjaz Kek   Referee: Mykola Balakin (UKR) Assistant referees: Dmytro Zaporozhenko (UKR) and Andrii Skrypka (UKR) Fourth official: Yaroslav Kozyk (UKR) VAR: Pawel Pskit (POL) AVAR: Piotr Lasyk (POL) Scorers: 4' Vipotnik, 16' Mlakar, 61' Lovric, 67' Karnicnik Booked: Tosi, Vitaioli, Mi. Battistini, Stojanovic Note: A minute's silence was observed before kick-off in memory of the victims of the earthquake in Morocco; attendance: 844.

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