BRATISLAVA, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- League leaders and reigning champions SK Slovan Bratislava suffered a shocking 4-0 defeat by ninth-ranked AS Trencin in the 13th round of the Slovakia's Fortuna Liga on Sunday.
FC Spartak Trnava took advantage of Bratislava's blunder to inch within one point in the standings after beating MFK Dukla Banska Bystrica 2-0. FC DAC Dunajska Streda's tremendous offensive performance against MSK Zilina slingshotted them to third in the standings after a 5-2 triumph.
"Some of the players will be relegated to the B-squad tomorrow, this is not the way to fight for a victory. It puts shame on the club, on me and I believe on the players, as well. I put trust into a couple of players I should not have," said SK Slovan Bratislava coach Vladimir Weiss after the embarrassing defeat in Trencin.
Trencin defender Kelvin Pires was key to his team's success, scoring his first brace since arriving at the club in 2020 and put a dent on Bratislava's joy after the capital outfit had beaten Switzerland's FC Basel in the UEFA European Conference League just a few days ago.
Second-placed Spartak Trnava stand one point behind Slovan Bratislava who have a game in hand. Trnava boast the best defense in the league, going five matches without conceding a goal. MFK Dukla Banska Bystrica also failed to score past Trnava's excellent goalkeeper Dominik Takac. Samuel Stefanik opened the score after a harmless-looking play that involved a redirected shot at the end of the first half, becoming his team's top scorer with four goals this season.
"It's nice to score but our position in the standings is more important. Our solid defense enables us to not concede and then we just have to wait for a goal which usually brings us the victory," said Stefanik after the win. Banska Bystrica made it easier for their opponents in the final stages of the match, scoring an unlucky own goal to set the final score to 2-0. ■
