Bulgarian national player Dominik Yankov made his initial appearance for Croatian champions Rijeka during a qualifying match for the Europa League, which ended with an unexpected loss against Irish representative Shelbourne.
Yankov, who transferred to the team this summer from Canadian FC Montreal, came on as a substitute in the 74th minute, replacing young forward Simun Butić. However, his inclusion failed to change the final result of the match.
Initially, the Croatians took the lead with a penalty goal by Niko Janković in the 56th minute, which looked promising for the hosts. The quick turn of events came just two minutes later, when defender Sam Bone equalized the score.
The final resolution came in the 70th minute, when John Martin sealed the 2:1 victory for visiting Shelbourne, which deepened Rijeka's crisis in European club tournaments.
This match was another - the seventh consecutive one - in which the Croatian team failed to win in international club competitions, which calls into question their performance in European tournaments.