Rio Ave wins in Banja Luka in the final minutes

(Patria) - Borac players said goodbye to the Europa League after a 0:2 loss to Rio Ave. The guests secured the victory with goals in the final moments of the match.

Borac had an excellent start to the match. The home team was not intimidated by the seemingly stronger opponent on paper, and threatened twice early on through Stojan Vranješ.

The home captain first shot in the sixth minute, and the last defender blocked the shot with his head and cleared it for a corner, after which, following a corner kick, the same player headed the ball, but weakly.

Jovo Lukić also tried in the following minutes, after which the Portuguese played a bit better and took control of the match.

In the 23rd minute, we recorded the best chance for the guests. After a corner, Santos found himself alone seven meters from Borac's goal, but he shot powerfully at Bojan Pavlović. The home goalkeeper intervened excellently, as he did after Manea's long-range shot.

Before the end of the first half, we can also highlight Lucas Piazon's free-kick for the guests, but the ball went over the goal.

Just like in the first half, Borac started the second half quite well. In the 51st minute, Lukić went one-on-one with the guests' goalkeeper, but he set himself up for his left foot and the defense caught up. He passed back to Zakarić, who shot over the goal.

As the match approached its end, Rio Ave became increasingly dangerous, but Bojan Pavlović made three spectacular saves.

He saved his team after Piazon's volley, and then deflected Tarantini's great chance onto the post.

However, a great shock in the last minute of regular time. The guests' captain Tarantini received Pavlović's deflected ball and scored in the 90th minute for 0:1. As Borac pushed forward in the final moments, a counter-attack followed and Jambor scored for the final 0:2.

Thus, Borac said goodbye to Europe, despite putting up a fierce fight and excellent effort throughout the entire 90 minutes.