Friendlies Clubs· Season 2026
NK Lokomotiva Zagreb beat Epitsentr Dunayivtsi 3-1 in a pre-season friendly in Rogatec, Slovenia. Belcar, Durkovic and Kostelac scored for the Croatian side; Nil Coch replied for the Ukrainians.
Match Videos
Match Analysis
AI SummaryHow It Unfolded
Epitsentr, playing their first friendly of a pre-season training camp in Slovenia under manager Serhiy Nahornyak, started brightly. The Ukrainian side created several dangerous openings and Joaquin Cifuentes struck the crossbar in the first half, but they could not find the net before the interval.
Lokomotiva made them pay on the stroke of half-time. Leon Belcar found the net in the 45th minute, giving the Croatian outfit a 1-0 lead at the break.
Any hopes of an Epitsentr response were quickly extinguished after the restart. Noel Durkovic doubled Lokomotiva's lead in the 48th minute, just three minutes into the second half, catching the Ukrainian defence cold.
Nil Coch gave Epitsentr a lifeline in the 81st minute with a header, but the comeback lasted only three minutes. Petar Kostelac restored Lokomotiva's two-goal cushion immediately, scoring in the 84th minute to seal the 3-1 victory.
The Turning Point
The second goal — Durkovic's strike inside the opening three minutes of the second half — effectively killed the contest. Epitsentr had weathered the storm after Belcar's late first-half goal and could have regrouped at the interval. Conceding so early after the restart forced them to chase the game, leaving space that Lokomotiva exploited for the third goal.
Key Performers
Leon Belcar — Scored the crucial opener just before half-time, changing the momentum after Epitsentr had enjoyed the better of the early chances.
Noel Durkovic — His goal inside three minutes of the second half was the decisive blow. Quick, sharp movement caught Epitsentr's defence out of position.
Nil Coch — The Spanish striker scored Epitsentr's only goal with a well-taken header in the 81st minute, but by then his side were already chasing the game.
Player of the match: Noel Durkovic — his early second-half strike was the defining moment of the match.
By the Numbers — Interpreted
Epitsentr had the better of the territorial play in the first half and created the clearer openings — Cifuentes hitting the crossbar underlined their misfortune — but Lokomotiva's clinical edge told. The Croatian side scored with three of their four shots on target, while Epitsentr converted only one of their chances. The 1-0 half-time scoreline flattered Lokomotiva slightly for their first-half performance, but the quick second-half double made the final margin a fair reflection of the overall balance.
What It Means
For Lokomotiva Zagreb, this continues a solid pre-season build-up. They drew 2-2 with Partizan Belgrade on 10 July and earlier defeated Queen's Park 3-1, suggesting they are finding rhythm ahead of the new Croatian football league season.
For Epitsentr, this was their first match of their Slovenia training camp. The Ukrainian Premier League side finished 10th last season and will use this result — and the lessons from it — as they prepare for the new campaign. Nahornyak's side will face Croatian side Gorica in their next friendly on 16 July.
Verdict
A pre-season friendly that followed a familiar pattern: the side further into their preparations (Lokomotiva, with multiple friendlies already played) showed greater sharpness in front of goal, while Epitsentr had encouraging spells without the cutting edge to make them count. The scoreline fairly reflected the difference in match sharpness rather than any fundamental gap in quality.
Match Events
Key match events between NK Lokomotiva Zagreb and Epitsentr Dunayivtsi — 4 goals and 0 cards recorded during the match.
Statistics are for informational purposes only. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
API data: 15 Jul 2026