Poor defending condemns Hibs

Hibernians 0
FK Mogren 2
Cetkovic 32; Gibic 88

Hibernians endured a frustrating start to their Champions League adventure when they were beaten 2-0 by FK Mogren, of Montenegro, in the first qualifying round, first leg, at the Centenary Stadium yesterday.

Goals from Marko Cetkovic and Petar Gibic gave the visitors a precious away win that makes them favourites to set up a second qualifying round tie with Danish champions FC Copenhagen later on this month.

It was a disappointing outcome for the Malta champions who sorely felt the absence of chief goalscorer Terrence Scerri and Bulgarian midfielder Rumen Galabov against modest opponents.

The Paolites tried hard to break Mogren's rearguard but they were left to rue two defensive blunders that all but ended their ambitions of progress in UEFA's prime competition for clubs.

Hibs coach Mark Miller was dealt a blow when he lost Scerri who was ruled out of the match after suffering a recurrence to an ankle injury.

Galabov was also missing as he is still not 100 per cent fit. On the plus side, Uruguayan midfielder Christian Callejas made his first appearance for the Malta champions this summer after missing the team's three matches in the Euro Cup competition last month.

The opening exchanges of the match were evenly-balanced with Mogren holding much of the possession even though they struggled to create any scoring opportunities. Hibs, on their part, played prudently and looked to hit their opponents with quick breaks.

The hosts created the first scoring opportunity after 14 minutes when Andrew Cohen stormed past his marker but his shot was blocked by a Mogren defender.

The Montenegro champions hit back five minutes later when Milan Rakic's shot from the distance was dealt with by Mario Muscat, the Hibs goalkeeper.

The scorching heat at the Centenary Stadium was inevitably leaving its toll on both sets of players. On 26 minutes, the referee opted to halt the match for a couple of minutes for the players to quench their thirst with a quick supply of water.

That break left a positive effect on Mogren as on 32 minutes Luka Pejovic dashed into the box from the left flank before squaring the ball towards the unmarked Cetkovic who had little difficulty in firing the ball past Muscat.

Hibs were clearly caught napping on this occasion. Their response came from a fine solo move from Milan Cvetic. However, the Serbian midfielder saw his rising shot finish just over.

Five minutes from the break, Cohen's throughball put Ben Camilleri clean through but he was anticipated by the onrushing Ivan Janjusevic, the Mogren goalkeeper.

A minute from the interval, Hibs shouted penalty when Cohen was upended in the area by Goran Jovanovic. The referee, however, waved play on and booked the Hibs forward for simulation.

There were no changes by either side at half-time with Hibs back on the pitch looking for an early breakthrough to get back in the reckoning. However, without Scerri, they looked short of ideas up front with Cohen their only source of inspiration.

Miller finally elected to make his first two changes just past the hour when he withdrew Ryan Mintoff and Callejas and sent on Leighton Grech and Jonathan Pearson as he looked to put on some fresh legs.

The first scoring opportunity in the second half came on 66 minutes when Cetkovic showed some delightful footwork to ease past his marker before hitting a curling shot that flew just wide of Muscat's goal.

But, Hibs were seeing more of the ball now even though it was Mogren who could have doubled their lead on 77 minutes when Drasko Bozovic slid the ball into the path of Gibic but the latter fired wide.

The Paolites came agonisingly close to an equaliser ten minutes from time when Cvetic unleashed a powerful grounder that was pushed away in style by Janjusevic.

However, any hopes the locals might have had to avoid an upset were dashed two minutes from time when Gibic pounced on some hesitant defending by Hibs before hitting low past Muscat for Mogren's second goal.

The second leg will be played next Wednesday.

Playing today: Tre Fiori vs Sant' Julia (return leg: July 7).

Hibernians
M. Muscat, R. Mintoff ('61 L. Grech), A. Pulis, J. Caruana, A. Xuereb, R. Camilleri, E. Herrera, C. Callejas ('61 J. Pearson), B. Camilleri, A. Cohen, M. Cvetic.

FK Mogren
I. Janjusevic, D. Bozovic, L. Pejovic, Z. Belada, J. Simovic, G. Jovanovic, M. Rakic ('70 L. Tiodorovic), B. Milic ('62 B. Bozovic), I. Stojakovic ('83 B. Kalejic), P. Gibic, M. Cetkovic.

Referee: Luc Wilmes (Luxembourg).

Yellow cards: Belada, Cohen, Mintoff, Callejas, Simovic.