Sheriff's new coach quit after first defeat

Sheriff Tiraspol's Croatian coach Stjepan Tomas resigned from his job on Tuesday after suffering his first defeat in the Moldovan League at the weekend.

"It seems to me that the players were thinking about the game in Manchester. They were not focused. It's my mistake," said Tomas, according to the club's website.

The resignation came two days before the team from the separatist republic of Transnistria play at Old Trafford in a Europa League match.

In its press release, the club praises the Croatian's work for "creating a team from scratch" with little time and qualifying for the group stage of a European competition.

Sheriff lost on Sunday by the minimum to Petrocub, who are second in the league, six points behind the team from Tiraspol.