Two goals from Matic Crnic have earned NK Domzale a surprise 2-1 victory over West Ham United in the first leg of their Europa League third qualifying round tie.
The Hammers were second best throughout against their Slovenian opponents but there was a feeling of relief among the West Ham ranks after they kept the tie within their grasp ahead of the second leg.
West Ham started the game on top but they fell behind after 11 minutes when Haavard Nordtveit was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the penalty area and Crnic made no mistake from the spot.
Many of the Domzale players had put themselves about during the opening quarter of an hour but they were made to pay for that approach when goalkeeper Axel Maraval went into the back of Winston Reid on the edge of the six-yard box and Mark Noble successfully dispatched the spot kick down the middle.
Just before the half-hour mark, Domzale created their first chance in open play but after cutting inside onto his right foot, Crnic drove the ball wide of the far post.
Moments later, Pedro Obiang fired wide for West Ham before Marko Alvir wasted a huge opportunity to regain the lead for Domzale as he sent his free header wide of the post.
Domzale were dominating the play before half time but they could not find a second, with Benjamin Morel's free kick the closest that they came to edging ahead of the Premier League outfit before the break.
After the restart, it took Domzale just four minutes to find the goal that their play deserved as Crnic netted his second with a finish into the far corner after Antonio was caught out of position for the umpteenth time in the game.
Just before the hour mark, Jure Balkovec forced Adrian to tip the ball away from goal and as the game headed into the final quarter, West Ham were struggling to contain Crnic who was comfortably Domzale's best player of the evening.
With 13 minutes remaining, Zan Majer fired a 25-yard strike towards goal, only to see Adrian tip his effort over the bar, before Noble managed to deflect another Crnic attempt into the stands.
Despite holding the lead, Domzale pushed for a third and they should have scored it with a minute remaining but after producing a terrific save from Crnic, the Hammer stopper went one better by producing a remarkable block to deny Amedej Vetrih from close range.
As the referee blew the full-time whistle, there was more relief than disappointment among the West Ham support as they recognised that they could have fallen to a heavier defeat but they still have it all to do at the Olympic Stadium next Thursday.
Darren Plant
