Metalurg played a goalless draw against Lokomotiv Sofia in a game that can be best described as a wasted opportunity.
From the start, it was evident that Metalurg gave too much respect to their opponents from Bulgaria and started the game tense. Lokomotiv Sofia scored on a header following a corner kick in the 3rd minute but the goal was disallowed because of a foul in the box. Metalurg did not play well in the first 30 minutes in part because like mentioned earlier, they simply gave too much respect to Lokomotiv Sofia but then they slowly started to take control of the game and should have gotten a better result. Metalurg had the better chances but the indecisiveness of the main two strikers, Muzafer Ejupi and Baze Ilijoski, cost the team on several occasions. Mile Krstev and Zaharievski also threatened on shots from distance but the Lokomotiv Sofia keeper saved both shots and they went for a corner each time.
Metalurg is a stable club with good sponsors but their approach is similar to that of Renova. Their starting 11 for this game featured five players over 30 with another two in the late 20’s so the coach prefers older players instead of having a better mix of youth and experience. Metalurg showed that they are not inferior to Lokomotiv Sofia and hopefully they will approach the second leg more positively instead of being passive and giving too much credit to their opponents.
The return leg will be played on 21 July 2011 at the Vasil Levski national stadium in Sofia. Not everything is bad for Metalurg because when it comes to drawing at home, a 0:0 draw is the best result due to the importance placed on away goals. Metalurg can draw 1:1 or 2:2 in Sofia and they will advance to the next round because of the away goals rule but they must have a positive approach. They can’t go to Sofia looking to play defensive because that will get them beat so they need to try to get a goal and put some pressure on their Bulgarian opponents.
National Arena Philip II of Macedon in Skopje, Macedonia
Referee: Luc Wilmes (Luxembourg)
Scorers: /
Red Cards: /
Yellow Cards: Krstev, Kralevski (M); Lahchev, Janev, Dyakov (L).
Metalurg: Pavlović, Petkovski, Memedi, Kralevski, Dragović, Mitrev, Zaharievski, Krstev (c), Nacevski (70′ B. Ljamcevski), Ilijoski (89′ Simonovski), Ejupi (53′ Tenekedziev).
Lokomotiv Sofia: Galev, Savić, Dyakov, Lahchev, Dobrev (c), Yanev (74′ Velev), Karadzhinov, Pisarov (78′ Manolov), Bozhinov, Romanov, Andonov (58′ Yordanov).