FC Spartak Trnava defeated FK Čadca 3-0 on Saturday in the Slovnaft Cup round of 16 to secure a spot among the eight best teams in the tournament.
Trnava entered the fixture aware that a single slip in cup play can end ambitions, as reported by Pravda. The visitors established control early on the Kysuce turf in front of 5,600 spectators, according to Sportnet. The opening minutes also featured an unusual disruption when a spectator ran onto the playing surface, Pravda reported.
Timotej Kudlička opened the scoring in the 14th minute by finishing a precise pass from Spartak captain Roman Procházka near the left post. A first-half own goal by Čadca defender Marián Valo doubled the advantage before halftime, according to Šport.sk.
Čadca attempted to mount a comeback after the interval, with Valo missing a close-range chance in the 59th minute that would have cut the deficit to a single goal, Pravda reported. Trnava manager Antonio Muñoz made a double substitution in the 55th minute, replacing Ujlaky and Khorkheli with Koštrna and Trello, while Martin Vantruba weathered a scare in goal when a Čadca attempt missed the left post.
Lorent Mehmeti sealed the 3-0 victory for the visitors with a late goal in the closing minutes of the match, sport.aktuality.sk reported.
The defeat ended a remarkable cup run for the third-division side, whose roster includes delivery workers, students, maintenance personnel, and programmers, tnlive.sk noted.
“[We] want to try for a miracle,” Andrej Štrba, Čadca captain and a former standout in Trnava’s academy, told tnlive.sk before the match.
While Spartak last missed the quarterfinals in the 2020-21 season, the club has captured three of the past five Slovnaft Cup titles, according to tnlive.sk. Whew. Now, with a cool head, I’d say probably not, but I’m an emotional player,” Štrba told tnlive.sk.
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