Šebo strike just enough for Slovakia
Saturday, March 26, 2011
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Andorra 0-1 Slovakia
Filip Šebo's seventh goal in 11 international games was just enough to secure a Group B away victory for Vladimír Weiss's men.
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A seventh goal in 11 international appearances from Filip Šebo was enough for Slovakia to secure a 1-0 UEFA EURO 2012 victory in Andorra and move to the top of Group B.
The ŠK Slovan Bratislava striker got on the end of a clever pass from Róbert Vittek to put his side ahead after 21 minutes, but they were unable to convert their pressure into goals thereafter. Slovakia blooded new talent, as defender Filip Lukšík and midfielder Tomáš Kóňa started, while FK Senica's Juraj Piroska came on for Vittek after the break.
With Andorra unable to offer little response to Šebo's opener, Miroslav Stoch, Marek Hamšík and Peter Pekarík all missed chances before the break, while defender Martin Škrtel struck wide in the second period. Šebo was then teed up for a second with a fine pass from Erik Jendrišek but could not find the target.
That might have proved to be a costly lapse had Andorra substitute Óscar Sonejee not passed up a presentable opportunity in added time. The performance was hardly slick, but it helped Slovakia to put a 2-1 friendly loss against Luxembourg behind them as they won their first game since beating Russia 1-0 in Moscow on 7 September 2010. More importantly, Vladimír Weiss's side now lead their section, albeit level on ten points with Russia and the Republic of Ireland.