Photo: VCG
BRATISLAVA, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Slovakia's football team disappointed the home crowd in Trnava losing to Group E leaders Croatia 4-0 in their Euro 2020 qualifiers on Friday.
The Croatians opened the scoring late in the first half after a bunch of scoring opportunities. Nikola Vlasic was left unchallenged and his well-placed shot from the top of the penalty area bounced in by Slovakia's goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.
One minute into the second half, the Croatians struck again. Ivan Perisic mimicked Vlasic's long-range effort to stretch the lead to 2-0. The Slovaks failed to answer the offensive dominance of the Croatians and were left stunned in the 72nd minute by Bruno Petkovic's great individual effort inside the box that provided the visitors with a comfortable 3-0 lead.
Dejan Lovren's header late in the game finalized Croatia's 4-0 knockout and put the 2018 World Cup silver medalists on top of Group E.
"It is all our fault. Our performance left much to be desired, we lacked a team effort. This is a big slap on the face. We have to do better in Hungary," said Slovakia's captain Marek Hamsik.
Slovakia will face their southern neighbors on Monday.
