Klemen Nemanić scored his first goal of the current Niké Liga season in Saturday’s 5-0 victory over Ružomberok. The Slovenian centre-back, who celebrates his 30th birthday in early November, netted his second goal in the Slovak top flight, where he has made 43 appearances.

DAC effectively settled the outcome in the opening half-hour, eventually securing a five-goal victory. “I think we played an excellent match. We practically decided the game in the first 30 minutes, scoring four goals during that spell. I’m also very happy that five different players found the back of the net. That’s a good sign ahead of our upcoming matches, too. However, the most important thing was the victory. We put in an excellent performance, and we need to keep it up,” he said after the final whistle.

Our centre-back did not have to wait long for his goal. In the 15th minute, he met Žan Trontelj’s corner and directed a header towards the right post to make it 2-0. The celebration was even more special because the assist came from his fellow Slovenian. “I was also very happy that my friend and fellow Slovenian, Žan, provided the assist. I think it was his first assist. I’m equally pleased that he managed to score himself towards the end of the match. Of course, I’m very happy about my goal, but ultimately, the most important thing is that we won as a team. We practise set pieces in training and put a lot of effort into perfecting them. We can see that they are working. I think we’ve already scored four or five goals from set pieces this season. Hopefully, there will be even more in the matches to come.”

Ružomberok tried to get back into the game at the start of the second half, but after DAC scored its fifth goal, the home side regained control. “After the first half, with a 4-0 lead, we expected Ružomberok to put us under pressure. The first 10 to 15 minutes of the second half were a little more difficult, but after our fifth goal, everything became easier. It was important that we kept possession for most of the remainder of the match.”

DAC face a demanding schedule, with three matches in nine days. This was also one of the reasons behind the head coach’s decision to make several substitutions. “We need fresh players. We have another match on Wednesday, followed by another one on Sunday. It’s important that the whole squad is available to the coaching staff and that the players coming off the bench can make a contribution. I think we’re in for a very difficult match in Košice. If you remember our most recent cup match there, it didn’t go particularly well for us. However, we have a slightly different team now. We can also see that we’ve conceded the fewest goals of any team in the league. We need to keep working on that and always aim to score one more goal than our opponents to secure victory.”

After the trip to Košice, DAC face another challenging away fixture against Banská Bystrica. “Dukla have improved recently. They drew at Slovan’s stadium, for example. It certainly won’t be an easy match, especially as we’re playing away from home. What matters to us, though, is continuing to produce performances like the one we showed against Ružomberok. It might look as if we had an easy game, but that wasn’t the case. We need to keep going in the same spirit.”

Asked who he would choose as the man of the match following DAC’s 5-0 victory, Nemanić picked his compatriot. “I would choose Žan Trontelj. He provided an assist, scored a goal himself and, as a defender, helped us keep a clean sheet,” Klemen Nemanić concluded with a smile.