BRATISLAVA, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- In a match-up of two winless teams in Group 2 of UEFA Nation's League B, Slovakia squandered a promising two-goal lead against Israel, allowing the visitors' top striker Eran Zahavi to turn the game around with a wonderful hat-trick on Wednesday, setting the final score to 3-2 with moments left on the clock.
Only hours prior to the game, the Slovak national team was informed that its head coach Pavel Hapal will not be able to attend, and lead his squad, because of a positive coronavirus test.
Despite the bad news, the home team managed to build a promising 2-0 lead at the Anton Malatinsky Arena in Trnava.
Luck was also on their side, as two solid chances for their opponents bounced off the goalposts.
On the road to the lead, Dalian Yifang star midfielder Marek Hamsik opened the scoring in the 16th minute with an unbelievable free-kick, bending the ball past a two-man wall and surprising Israel's goalkeeper Ofir Marciano.
Twenty-two minutes later, Robert Mak utilized an empty left side on a fast-break, slipped past the defense, and didn't give the visiting goalkeeper a chance, stretching the lead to two.
In the 68th minute, things started to take a turn for the worse for the Slovaks.
Eran Zahavi, the PSV Eindhoven striker, kicked-off his one-man show with a nice header on a corner kick, equalized the game eight minutes later with a prompt redirect of a teammates' pass from close range and topped his tremendous performance with an out-of-this-world shot from 20 meters just one minute before the end of regulation.
Israel's first victory in the UEFA Nation's League competition leaves it in third place in the Group 2 rankings of League B, but now only one point behind the Czech Republic which has six points after succumbing to the 10-point group-leader Scotland 0-1 on Wednesday.
Slovakia remains last with just a single point earned.
Only two-rounds remain, and the last team will have to fight off relegation, while the group leader will get the chance to advance to League A. Enditem
