体坛英语新闻：Slovan holds 11-point lead at Slovak league with one game less played

BRATISLAVA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- FC Streda and Zilina are tied for second place after the 21st round of the Slovak Fortuna Liga played on Saturday.

Zilina's popularity soared after its win over Chinese giant Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club at the beginning of 2019, but it's still far from the first place in Fortuna Liga.

Slovan, who has played one round less, holds the first place firmly with an 11-point advantage.

The two games of equal strength were tied. Ruzomberok and Michalovce drew a dull game 0-0, a result leaving them out of the top three, which are ranked fourth and fifth respectively.

Trencin and Podbrezova struggled to escape the relegation zone, but the draw plunged both of them deeper in danger.

Nitra tried to level the score after missing the first goal, but Jaroslav Machovec's own goal ended Nitra's hopes. Despite its tight defense to the end, Nitra lost 2-0 to Sered.

The best comes last. The closely watched derby between Slovan and Trnava will be played on Sunday evening. Based on the results of Saturday night's games, the result of derby game won't change the ranking of the two teams.