Two-thirds of the match played on completely level terms with Drita – if not better than Drita – were not enough for Tre Fiori to come away from the first leg of the Conference League Q3 with a happy or at least merciful result. In truth, the final verdict is extremely harsh – far too harsh – and turns next week’s return leg (to be played in Kosovo) into a kind of Everest to climb. The approach of the yellow-and-blue side – missing suspended players Rea and Bernardi – was positive. However, the first real chance fell to Drita, with Jashari whipping in a perfect cross for Limaj‘s run, forcing Nardi into a superb reflex save; on the loose ball Besnik Krasniqi pounced, and once again the yellow-and-blue goalkeeper’s response deserved applause. Tre Fiori were not intimidated. They reacted immediately with Mengucci breaking clear, sent through by Mancini and caught at the last moment by Jashari; and then with Mengucci’s low drive from the edge of the box, which flew just wide. The muggy heat did not allow for a frantic pace. So it took until the 24th minute for another scoring chance, namely Dabiqai’s header from Ovouka’s cross, the ball landing not far from the post. Shortly after, an unlucky deflection off Sirri’s foot gave a big chance to Manaj, who chose to lay it off to Jashari: the lively Kosovar winger opened his body to shoot but failed to add any venom to it, allowing Nardi to make the save. Shortly before stoppage time, Benedettini suffered a physical problem and had to leave the pitch. Girolomoni did not want to waste a substitution slot, so he chose to risk playing the closing stages of the first half a man down. Paradoxically, it was his own side that had the biggest chance of the half: Sami, from a free kick, found Sirri, who provided a perfect flick-on for Censoni, completely unmarked at the far post but off-balance at the crucial moment. The episode had the effect of shaking Drita into life, and within a short span they came close to taking the lead with two headers of increasing danger. The first came from Dabiqai off a cross from Jashari, which went wide. The second came from Blerim Krasniqi off an assist from Ovouka: the number 19 met it violently at the edge of the six-yard box and sent it narrowly over.
Coming out of the locker room, Van Nek replaced Benedettini. Dritacame out at high intensity, immediately looking dangerous from a corner (the defence failed to clear and Dabiqai struck from close range, finding a deflection) and above all with Limaj’s long-range shot, set up by Blerim Krasniqi: the ball whistled just over the crossbar. The Kosovars did not let up, causing further worry for the Tre Fiori defence once again with midfield runners breaking forward: Besnik Krasniqi, from the right flank, set up Dabiqai, who beat everyone to the ball but sent it wide. The home side’s fuel light was already beginning to flash, but paradoxically it was precisely at this point that Prandelli put them ahead, timing his run to the edge of offside (a long ball from Sami) before beating Maloku with a curling left-footed shot. A brief VAR check followed, then the green light: Tre Fiori ahead. And shortly after, Tre Fiori came very close to making it 2-0: Prandelli’s delicate touch opened up the goal for Mancini, who was mesmerised by Maloku and then, on the rebound, shot high and wide. That missed opportunity woke Drita up, much as had happened at the end of the first half. This time the Kosovar reaction turned into an immediate equaliser. The absolute protagonist of the move was Ovouka, who first created space out wide and delivered a tempting ball to Limaj; he then collected Nardi’s short parry and unleashed a powerful left-footed strike into the net. Now Tre Fiori’s mental energy – as well as their physical energy, already depleted – began to collapse. Within 2 minutes Drita completed the comeback with Blerim Krasniqi, left far too free to head home Abazaj’s wide cross. With their minds clearer and the energy gap now enormous, Drita no longer left the opposition’s half. Nardi saved on a flying effort from Dabiqai – also left unmarked in the heart of the box. He then had no answer for the unstoppable left foot of Besnik Krasniqi, who broke clear after a tentative advance from Girolomoni’s side toward Maloku’s goal. In the 90th minute, Limaj found Balaj cutting inside, who arrived alone in front of Nardi and was denied three times in a row by the home goalkeeper. The Kosovar number 10 made amends with an individual run that earned the penalty for the 4-1 (a handball by Sirri): Besnik Krasniqi stepped up, choosing to place it down the middle to complete his double and seal both the victory in concrete terms and, virtually, qualification.
