In the first game to mark the second half of the season, Stefan Ristovski came off the bench to score a late game winner for Latina.

Stefan Ristovski was able to recover from his injury and make the Latina squad for today’s game against Empoli.  Stefan last played in early December of last year when a thigh injury forced him to miss the final few games of the first half of the season.  After the short winter break, today Latina resumed league play with a home encounter against Empoli.

Ristovski began the match on the bench before he was introduced in the 74th minute to take the place of Andrea Milani.  It was still goalless at that time, but Empoli did make it 0:1 within a minute of Stefan entering the game.  However, Latina responded almost immediately by scoring the equalizer in the 77th minute through Brazilian striker Jefferson.  Then, in stoppage time of the 90th minute, Ristovski managed to break the deadlock with a game winning goal.  It was his first goal in a Latina uniform and it could not come at a better time.  After the goal, Stefan also received a yellow card for an excessive celebration.

Ristovski played in right midfield for Latina in their 3-5-2 formation.  The Latina manager decided to bring him along slowly as he is still building up his fitness after being out of action for a month.  In the next game, Stefan should reclaim his starting spot in the lineup over Milani.

Video of the goal by Ristovski(at 1:00)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Xh-Ka0QpswU