BRATISLAVA, May 28 (Xinhua) -- MSK Zilina defeated FC ViOn Zlate Moravce in the mini-playoff final by 3-2 in overtime on Friday to grab a spot in the UEFA European Conference League qualifiers.

They will join FC DAC 1904 Dunajska Streda and FC Spartak Trnava, who secured direct spots in the new tournament by finishing second and third in the 2020/21 Fortuna Liga season.

The first half produced an attractive scoring fest with both teams putting the ball into the back of the net twice. Zlate Moravce's top scorer Filip Balaj opened the scoring 13 minutes into the game with a header from a corner.

David Hrncar capitalized on a cross from Greek striker Alexandros Kyrizidis 11 minutes later and stretched the visitors' lead to 2-0.

Late in the first half, VAR took center stage. In the 43rd minute, a clash resulted in Zilina being awarded a penalty which Vahan Bichakhchyan took advantage of. During added time, an almost identical situation led to a second penalty, and again, the young Armenian midfielder stepped up and scored, tying the game at 2-2 before the break.

Zilina had several promising opportunities to complete the turnaround in the second half, but none of them ended in a goal, resulting in extra-time to decide the winner.

The home team continued to put Zlate Moravce under pressure and substitute Taofiq Jibril became the hero of the day in the 101st minute by scoring the winner and completing Zilina's superb turnaround. Enditem

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