Kyrylo Nesterenko watched his European coaching debut turn sour as Ukrainian side "Oleksandriia" suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Serbian visitors "Partizan" in the second round of UEFA Conference League qualification.
The newly appointed coach, who replaced Ruslan Rotan after the team's impressive second-place finish in last season's Ukrainian Premier League, couldn't prevent the clinical Serbians from taking a significant advantage back to Belgrade for next week's return leg.
"Oleksandriia" started promisingly, creating several early opportunities through Bezerra and Tsara, but failed to convert when it mattered most. Their wastefulness proved costly when Kostich struck in the 14th minute, finishing a counter-attack with a perfect shot into the far corner.
Despite dominating possession, the Ukrainian side continued to struggle with finishing. Goalkeeper Simich was in excellent form for "Partizan," making crucial saves from Skorko and Kampush's long-range efforts before halftime.
The second half followed a similar pattern. Just when "Oleksandriia" seemed to be building momentum, they conceded again in the 56th minute. Miloshevich broke forward on the counter before setting up Ugreshich, who fired home from the edge of the penalty area to double the visitors' advantage.
To make matters worse, Shostak had missed a golden opportunity moments earlier, blazing over from a central position inside the penalty area. Talk about painful timing!
Interestingly, this European tie represents a significant step down for "Partizan," who faced Ukrainian giants "Dynamo Kyiv" in Champions League qualification just last year. Now they're well-positioned to advance in Europe's third-tier competition after this clinical away performance.
With the return leg scheduled for next week in Belgrade, can Nesterenko's men somehow overturn this deficit? The task looks enormous, especially given their finishing woes in this first encounter.
