Slovenia beat Kazakhstan 1:0 in Almaty for their second win in four games in the UEFA Nations League to remain in contention for promotion to League A. Jan Mlakar scored the sole goal in the 55th minute to let his team come back from a 0:3 loss against Norway.

Mlakar, the 25-year-old forward who plays for the Italian Serie B club Pisa, took advantage of a pass by Erik Janža to score from just outside of the box, with the ball hitting the crossbar and then ending in the goal.

Kazakhstan showed more initiative in the first period with five shots, two on target, while Slovenia had three shots, all on target.

In the 41st minute Slovenia had a promising attack with Šeško finishing with a header but it was not enough to beat Kazakhstan's goalkeeper Igor Shatskiy. He also saved an attempt by Adam Gnezda Čerin from the edge of the box in the 45th minute.

At the beginning of the second half Vanja Drkušić had to leave the pitch early due to an injury, but then came relief for Slovenia in the 55th minute thanks to a worldie by Mlakar. Slovenia had two more chances after that, one through Šeško and another one by Mlakar, but the result remained put.

The win at the Central Stadium in front of some 19,800 spectators was Slovenia's fourth against Kazakhstan in as many official matches, the second of which in the Nations League.

It propels Slovenia to the top of the Group B3 standings ahead of tonight's match between Norway and Austria in Linz.

Slovenia will wrap up their campaign in the UEFA League of Nations in November - at home against Norway and an away encounter against Austria, looking to finish first in the group and earn direct promotion to League A.

"A tough and well-deserved win. I congratulate the lads for the character they've shown these days," head coach Matjaž Kek said after the win that enabled Slovenia to avoid being relegated to League C.

He said Mlakar was "rewarded by karma after everything he had to go through".

Kek is happy with the response after the loss in Norway. "Beating such an opponent is not easy. You could see on the pitch that they were affected by the long travel, but what is important for me is the approach and the lads responded the right way."

Looking forward to the November games, he said that the defeat in Oslo made it a bit difficult to fight for the first place, "but the matches against Norway and Austria still await us, and we will want to win both of them."