Slaven Belupo 2 Aston Villa 1
Aston Villa's summer of woe took a turn for the worse today when they were beaten in the first leg of their Intertoto Cup third round clash against Slaven Belupo in Croatia.
A late winner from Goran Gersak just moments after David Ginola had equalised with a long-range effort means Villa must come from behind in the return leg next week if they are to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Cup.
Manager John Gregory failed to make the trip to Croatia due to a bout of food poisoning so reserve team boss Kevin MacDonald and chief scout Ross MacLaren took charge of the team.
With former Manchester United keeper Peter Schmeichel unavailable following his surprise move to Villa last week, Peter Enckelman made a rare start in goal.
But Moroccan new boys Mustapha Hadji and Hassan Kachloul, summer signings from Coventry and Southampton respectively, were on international duty.
Villa had claims for an early penalty rejected when Dion Dublin was bundled to the floor as he went to meet Mark Delaney's cross.
Villa continued to press and Slaven were lucky to escape in the 20th minute when Alpay powered forward to connect with Lee Hendrie's free-kick, but his close-range header crashed off the post.
Slaven hit back when striker Renato Jurcec beat Enckelman with a fierce drive which crashed off the bar in the 30th minute and, five minutes later, midfielder Damir Muzek forced his way into the area only to shoot wide.
Dublin should have broken the deadlock on the stroke of half-time when Merson picked him out in the area, but the centre-forward failed to even hit the target as he dragged a weak shot wide.
After the break, Slaven had Villa under the cosh and it was no great surprise when their pressure finally told just after the hour mark.
Mario Kovacevic mis-hit a shot which Enckelman was able to turn away for a corner.
When the ball came back in, Crnac was left unmarked in the Villa area and was able to steer home his header past the stranded Enckelman.
That set the stage for Ginola, on as a second-half substitute, to bring Villa level with his stunning 30-yard drive five minutes from the end.
But the Croatians were not finished yet and just as it appeared that the Frenchman had saved Villa's blushes, Enckelman allowed a low effort from Gersak to escape his clutches in the 89th minute. -PA