August 13, 14 & 15, 2021
Friday August 13, 2021
HNK Dinamo Zagreb vs HNK Gorica ( att : 1,282 )
Doka ( 36 og )
Saturday August 14, 2021
NK Lokomotiva Zagreb 4-0 NK Istra 1961 ( att : 307 )
Dabro ( 20 & 49 ), Aliyu ( 31 & 45 )
HNK Hajduk Split 2-0 NK Slaven Belupo ( att : 6,806 )
Sahiti ( 35 ), Livaja ( 48 )
Sunday August 15, 2021
HNK Sibenik 6-2 NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac ( att : 470 )
Delic ( 1 ), Bacelic-Grgic ( 52 & 86 ), Marin ( 58 & 91 ), Jakolis ( 61 ); Petkovic ( 34 ), Strkalj ( 45 )
NSK Osijek 1-0 HNK Rijeka ( att : 2,069 )
Mierez ( 17 )
Dinamo registered a victory over Gorica that was more comfortable than 1-0 suggests, but they were far from impressive.
Dinamo’s match winner was a bizarre affair. Moubandje’s cross after a run down the left wing took a slight deflection off Baka as he attempted a block, but the ball sailed over Gorica keeper Banic’s attempt to push over the bar, bounced, hit the far post and went into the net. Baka was credited with an own goal.
Banic partially atoned for his error with three fine saves, to deny Kastrioti and Majer ( twice ). Gorica’s closest attempt was a free-kick that Dinamo keeper Livakovic strangely saved with his feet.
Lokomotiva continued their unexpectedly good start to the season with a thumping home win over Istra, They took the lead after 20 minutes from a teasing left footed cross from Milicevic that needed only a slight touch from Dabro, and another fabulous Milicevic cross from the left was met by Aliyu at the far post to double Lokomotiva’s lead in the 31st minute. Things got worse for Istra just before the interval when a mis-hit back pass by Silva enabled Dabro to lay-off to Aliyu to make it 3-0.
It was 4-0 three minutes after the break, when another fine cross, this time from Cipetic from the right by-line was side-footed home left footed by Dabro from 10 yards. Lokomotiva effectively declared after this but Istra were unable to make much of an impression.
Slaven Belupo made a bright start at Hajduk Split, with Bogojevic sweeping just wide from 10 yards, and Zvonarek struck the base of the post with a free-kick. However, a fabulous goal from Sahiti gave Hajduk the lead after 35 minutes, picking the ball up just inside the Slaven half, running diagonally across the pitch through the heart of the defence to score with the outside of his foot from around 8 yards.
Hajduk’s second goal was a bit more fortunate, Livpaja’s free-kick took a big deflection off the defensive wall, but the midfielder was credited with the goal. Hajduk took control after this, and looked the more likely to score the next goal, but had to settle for 2-0.
In the match between two sides without a win, Sibenik eventually recorded an emphatic win although they had a scare and went into the break losing 1-2. They got off to an ideal start in the first minutes with Decic running onto a ball over the top to shot left-footed across goal into the far corner Dragovoljac were back on level terms in the 34th minute when non-existent marking left Petkovic free to put away a cross from the left by-line from 10 yards. More bad marking saw Strkalj alone at the back post to head home a corner to give Dragovoljac the lead for only the second time this season.
Just to show that Sibenik didn’t have a monopoly on poor defending, the Dragovoljac defence was absent without leave when a simple chip forward by Jakolis saw Bacelic-Grgic in acres of space to round the keeper and score the equaliser. The inability mark continued when Marin was left in space to put Sibenik in the lead from 8 yards. More huge holes in the defence saw Jakolis run clear and round the Dragovoljac keeper to make it 4-2.
Sibenik added two more goals near the end with the visitors reluctant to tackle or close down the opposition.
Dragovoljac remain without a point, and if they continue to defend like this they will be on the end of numerous hammerings. Sibenik also looked poor defensively, and are likely to be in the bottom three at the end of the season despite scoring six goals here.
The final match of the weekend saw Osijek narrowly overcome Rijeka in a match between two aspirational contenders for the title.
Rijeka had a goal disallowed early on, when Abass’ finish was ruled out for a narrow offside earlier in the move. Osijek quick responded, and dangerman Mierez scored what would turn out to be the match winner with a trademark header from 15 yards from a cross from the right wing. Before half-time both sides made pretty abysmal claims for penalties, with players falling over with little/no contact, and the referee quite rightly waive play on in both occasions.
Chances were few and far between, although Muric did force Osijek keeper Ivusic into a decent diving save with just over ten minutes left, and Osijek thought they had added a second goal in added on time through Bohar, but although the goal was initially awarded, it was eventually disallowed for offside after a VAR review. The result Osijek move to the top of the table, with Rijeka slipping to fifth.
European Update
The biggest story of the week was the failure for the much anticipated Dinamo Zagreb vs Red Star Belgrade Champions League play-off tie to materialise. Dinamo fulfilled their side of the bargain by beating Legia in Warsaw 1-0 to progress 2-1 on aggregate. Unfortunately, although perhaps to the relief of UEFA and the respective security forces, Red Star were eliminated after a 0-1 defeat to Sheriff Tiraspol ( 1-2 on aggregate ), and the Moldovan champions from the unrecognised break-away state of Transnistria go onto to play Dinamo for a place in the CL group stages.
In the Europa Conference, Rijeka overcame Scottish side Hibernian 4-1 in front of over 4,000 spectators to progress to a tie with PAOK Salonika in the play-off round. The tie was evenly poised when Kyle MacGinnis equalised for Hibs early in the second half, but the match turned with 25 minutes to play after a red card to Hibs Darren McGregor for pulling back Obregon, for a clear second yellow card. Rijeka took advantage to score three unanswered goals.
Osijek, Croatia’s other remaining side in the Europa Conference failed to progress, being unable to overturn a 2-4 deficit with CSKA Sofia by only drawing 1-1 at home. A stunning finish from Irishman Graham Carey extended CSKA’s lead and although Skoric equalised before half-time, Osijek were unable to make any further inroads.
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