Mykola Kukharevych needed just seven minutes to find the net on his debut for "Slovan Bratislava," securing the final goal in a commanding 4-0 victory over Bosnia's "Zrinjski" Mostar in the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round.
"I'm happy to contribute immediately after joining the club. The team played excellently, and I just finished the job," Kukharevych might have said after his impressive debut.
The 22-year-old Ukrainian striker, who recently signed a four-year contract with the Slovakian champions, entered the pitch in the 86th minute replacing David Strelec. His goal in the third minute of stoppage time put the final nail in "Zrinjski's" coffin.
Vladimír Weiss, Slovan's head coach, gave Kukharevych his first minutes while fellow Ukrainian Danilo Ignatenko remained on the bench throughout the match. Before Kukharevych's late contribution, Tigran Barseghyan opened the scoring at the 40-minute mark, followed by Strelec doubling the lead just two minutes later. Tolich added a third in the 62nd minute.
By the way, "Slovan Bratislava" reportedly paid around €800,000 to Scottish side "Hibernian" for Kukharevych's services - a decent sum for the Slovakian league standards.
The return leg is scheduled for Tuesday, July 29, with "Slovan" having one foot already in the next round. Should they advance, which now seems highly likely, they'll face either "KuPS" or "Kairat" in the third qualifying round. The loser of this tie will drop to the Europa League to battle either "Lech" or "Breidablik".
Can Kukharevych continue his scoring form in the return match? With such a promising start, Slovak fans certainly have reasons for optimism.
