Vladimir Weiss strike breaks Shamrock Rovers hearts in Champions League clash
13 July 2021; Liam Scales of Shamrock Rovers reacts to a missed opportunity during the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round clash. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
A brave comeback by Shamrock Rovers was undone by Vladimir Weiss’s winner as Slovan Bratislava sent the Irish champions into the Europa Conference League.
Graham Burke’s 16th-minute penalty at Tallaght provided Rovers with hope of remaining in the Champions League – and Richie Towell’s first goal for the club fuelled it – but Slovakian international Weiss sunk the killer blow 18 minutes from the end to set them up a third-round meeting with Young Boys of Bern.
Trailing 2-0 from last week’s first leg, drastic circumstances called for drastic action and Stephen Bradley made radical changes in pursuit of a rescue remedy.
Out went Sean Hoare and Sean Gannon, their two high-profile recruits from rivals Dundalk, along with Aaron Greene.
Into their berths came experienced defender Joey O’Brien as well as Graham Burke and Danny Mandriou.
The duo’s inclusion underlined the attacking approach adopted by Rovers but it also facilitated the switching of captain Ronan Finn to wing-back with a man-marking mission in mind.
Stung from the damage two-goal hero Rafael Ratão inflicted from the wing in Bratislava, the wily Finn stuck to the Brazilian, managing to keep him quiet in the first half.
It was instead Weiss, the manager’s son, through whom most of Slovan’s attacks were channelled.
Just three weeks on from his appearance against Spain at the Euros, the striker looked sharper than his club return, last week’s cameo off the bench when he missed a penalty to make it 3-0.
Perhaps it was his brief loan spell at Rangers 12 years that caused a section of the 1500 fans in Tallaght to boo his every touch but Weiss’s 71 caps haul, allied to those earned by Georgian pair Guram Kashia and Jaba Kankava and skipper Vasil Bozhikov, brought the total in the visiting side to 284.
Covid-19 had robbed Bozhikov of a place in the Bulgaria side on his last trip to Dublin in November and he wasn’t feeling well again after conceding the penalty on 15 minutes that offered Rovers a lifeline.
Unhinged by Gary O’Neill’s incisive rule pass, Bozhikov went to ground inside his own box, sweeping Burke’s feet in the process.
Croatian referee Mario Zebec was close to the incident, awarding the penalty which Irish international Burke converted by sending Adrián Chovan the wrong way.
By that juncture, Rovers were fortunate not to have been further behind on aggregate.
Sloppiness by defender Roberto Lopes on his 150th appearance for the club almost cost them twice, especially after just five minutes when his miskick on the halfway line allowed Ezekiel Henty race clear. Lopes, scrambling back, was relieved as the former AC Milan striker sent his curler wide of the far post.
Henty had earlier stung the palms of Alan Mannus with a 25-yard snapshot and the Rovers goalkeeper saved the Hoops again within two minutes of them taking the lead.
Not only did he keep out Joeri de Kamps’ wicked shot from distance but got straight back up to turn David Hrnčár’s diving header on the rebound around the post.
Frustration was beginning to show in the Slovan ranks when Henty was shown a yellow card for dissent and it suited Rovers perfectly as they went to the dressing room with the deficit halved and their heads up.
Burke blazed over shortly after the restart and Finn had a near-post shot repelled as Rovers tried to probe but for the most part Chovan was untroubled.
It would take for something special to breach the Slovaks and Towell obliged on 64 minutes.
Left unmarked 25 yards out in a central position, he was found by his former Salford City teammate Rory Gaffney before taking one touch and rifling his shot into the top corner.
Towell wheeled away to be embraced by some pitch-invaders but the mood inside a stadium expecting extra-time was dampened within seven minutes.
Vernon de Marco issued a warning by fizzing a shot wide on 69 minutes before Weiss produced the match-winning moment. Utilising his low centre of gravity, the attacker cut inside from the left past a couple of defenders and tucked his shot beyond the diving Mannus.
Rovers boss Stephen Bradley felt a refereeing decision deprived them of extra-time. “It’s a definite foul in the build-up to the goal. We got done by a really really poor decision as an awful decision that cost us. You could sense Slovan were physically done.
“The fourth official is saying foul because he sees the forward push him but the ref doesn’t listen to him."
A Mannus; J O’Brien (S Hoare 81), R Lopes, L Grace; R Finn, G O’Neill (D Watts 72), R Towell (A Greene 84), D Mandriou, L Scales; G Burke, R Gaffney.
A Chovan; J Medveděv, G Kashia, V Bozhikov, De Marco; J Kankava, J de Kamps (M Abena 90), D Hrnčár (A Čavrić 59), R Ratão (J Zmrhal 82); V Weiss (A Mustafic 90); E Henty (R Ibrahim 59).
Mario Zebec (CRO).
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