Stadium: Municipal in Katowice
Referee: Jonas Janovic (Estonia)
Scorers: Kostic 14’, Ugresic 56’
Oleksandriya: Shevchenko, Skorko, Kampos, Behirache, Ndika – Shostak (62’ Varchenko), Alvina (77’ Kozak), Kovalets (62’ Buletsa), Mishnov, Kara (62’ Joza) – Amaral (69’ Kulakov).
Partizan (4-2-3-1): Krunic – Roganovic (90’ Milic), Djurdjevic, Simic, Jurcevic – Ugresic (74’ Jankovic), Karabeljov – Trifunovic, Vukotic (74’ Natho), B. Kostic (60’ Kalulu) – Milosevic (60’ A. Kostic).
Partizan’s players made a huge, really huge step toward reaching the 3rd qualifying round of the Conference League after defeating Ukrainian side Oleksandriya 2:0 (1:0) in Polish Katowice.
It will forever be remembered that the goals for the Steamroller were scored by academy graduates of our club – Bogdan Kostic in the 14th and Ognjen Ugresic in the 56th minute.
It was a match in which Partizan’s young players showed why the entire club, led by coach Srdjan Blagojevic, stands behind them and why the project of their development is of crucial importance. The team that the head coach fielded against the Ukrainian vice-champions was the youngest ever to represent Partizan in a European match, with an average age of just 22.1 years.
But the Partizan players played “like veterans” and were the team dictating the tempo the entire time. The midfield was the area where they dominated, the ball constantly moved forward, and the opponent could not defend against the youthful inspiration of the players in burgundy-blue jerseys.
Additional confidence was provided by goalkeeper Milos Krunic, who brilliantly replaced the suspended Marko Milosevic and proved that the club has a reliable and high-quality shot-stopper in him.
The Partizan players will have the opportunity to secure their place in the next round of the Conference League qualifiers next Thursday at home in Humska, where they will hopefully show once again, in front of packed stands, that they are truly the future not only of Partizan but of Serbian football in general.
