Benjamin Sesko's Return: A Goal and Painful Stoppage-Time Draw

Benjamin Sesko marked his return from injury with a goal – and walked off the pitch furious.

His strike looked set to decide the contest, a classic centre-forward’s contribution after a disrupted pre-season. Instead, a stoppage-time gut punch ripped the points away and left the 23-year-old staring at the turf, shaking his head.

“We're very disappointed of course because we were very close [to winning] and yet so far,” he said. “To concede a goal like that in the last minute, it's painful for everyone because everyone was giving everything to try and win the game. Every single person here wants that. In the moments like this where a last shot decides it, it's very painful.”

The goal should have been the perfect storyline for him. After fitness problems wrecked most of his pre-season rhythm, this was the performance he needed: sharp movement, a decisive finish, the feeling of being central again.

He clung to that, even as the result gnawed away.

“For me, it's the best feeling when I'm scoring, especially for the club like that,” Sesko said. “When I can provide the goals and the points for the team – it's my job at the end of the day.”

The job, on a personal level, is back on track. The collective one still needs work.

“It's nice to be back with the team to experience all the games again,” he continued. “Of course I wish today that we had won, but we can't change that.”

So the focus turns to what comes next, not what slipped away in the final seconds.

“It's really important to take everything as positive even when it's not the best option from today,” Sesko insisted. “To see the game in a good light, to try and improve and focus for the next game.”

His message was clear: the pain stays, but so does the responsibility to turn a returning striker’s goal into something more than a footnote in a game that got away.