HSK Zrinjski Mostar 1-0 FK Borac Banja Luka ( att 3,000 ) – 2022/23 Bosnia Premijer Liga
November 20, 2022
With the Qatar World Cup starting today, there are still many leagues which are continuing, and today was the final round in the 2022/23 Bosnian Premijer Liga before it ceased for its winter break. The final match of the 19th round saw a meeting of HSK Zrinjski Mostar ( HSK translates as Croat Sport Club ) against FK Borac Banja Luka, who are located in the Serbian region of Srpska.
These diaries have once previously featured the top division in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a review of the 2021/22 season at its winter break.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2021/12/review-bosnia-202122-superliga-round-19.html
At that time, HSK Zrinkski Mostar were run-away leaders, being 12 points clear of Tuzla City, and ultimately went on to go unbeaten through the rest of the season to win the league by a staggering by 27 point ahead of Tuzla City, with Borac Banja Luka a further three points further back in third place. Experienced striker Nemanja Bilbija ( 1 cap ) scored 33 goals to win the golden boot for the second year running, and to be the most valuable player in the Bosnian Premijer Liga worth Є1 Million.
By winning the league Zrinjski entered the Champions League but were eliminated at the first hurdle by Moldovan Champions Sheriff Tiraspol, 0-1 on aggregate. Dropping down to the Europa Conference, Zrinjski first got past KF Tirana of Albania, winning both ties to progress 4-2 on aggregate and then had a notable success to knock-out Tobol Kostanay of Kazakhstan 2-1 over two matches. In the play-off round for a place in the group stages, Zrinjski lost a penalty shoot-out to Slovan Bratislava after a 1-0 home win and a 1-2 loss in Slovakia.
Due to their success in European competition, Zrinjski were allowed to postpone several of their early season league matches, and when they did play, they suffered reverses to Zeljeznicar Sarajevo in their opening game, 1-2 at home, and then 0-1 at today’s opponents, to have lost more times in three matches than they did in the whole of the 2021/22 season.
Lowly Sloga Doboj also inflicted a surprise 0-1 defeat on Zrinjski. However, the champions have since embarked on a run of 10 games unbeaten, with 7 victories and three draws to go joint top of the table with Siroki Brijeg, but with two games in hand. Borac Banja Luka were in third place three points behind from a game more than Zrinjski but could have gone joint top with a win today.
Bilbija was again top of the scoring charts with 10 goals, but he was missing from HSK’s squad today.
Borac qualified for the Europa Conference thanks to their third placed finish last season, but after beating Faroe Islands side B36 Torshavn 2-0 at home, a 1-3 away loss meant penalties, which they lost 3-4 to exit the competition.
Borac possessed a 10-3-5 record so far but had only scored 20 times in those 18 matches. Momcilo Mrkaic had scored 4 of them since signing from Serbian side Vojvodina. Borac’s five losses had come against FK Sarajevo ( 1-3 at home and 0-1 away ), Sloboda Tuzla ( 0-2 away ), Leotar ( 0-1 at home ) and to Siroki Brijeg ( 0-2 away ). They too though were on a good run of form, taking 13 points from their last 5 matches.
Prior to today, Zrinjski’s average home attendance this season was 2,944, with 7,000 attending the derby against Velez. Zeljeznicar Sarajevo had the best average with 7,233, and the three highest individual attendances, the best being the 11,500 that witnessed the Sarajevo derby with FK Sarajevo. Borac were averaging 1,911 so far this season.
Bet365.com, who live streamed this match, made Zrinjski 5/6 favourites, with Borac at 13/5 and the draw at 5/2. The temperature at the 15.00 local time kick-off was around 17 degrees, and although some light drizzle was forecast, it managed to stayed away from the stadium.
Prior to the kick-off a presentation was made to Zrinjski’s Serbian centre-back Slobodan Jakovljovic for making 200 appearances for the club. However, he like Bilbija, was not in today’s match-day squad.
Around 300-400 home ultras were packed into the open terrace on the far side of the ground, making a lot of noise and regularly jumping up and down. Around 150-200 away supporters were located in a cage in the corner on the opposite side, whilst the main stand was well populated in the lower middle tier but mostly vacant elsewhere.
Zrinjski were in their usual Peru style kit of all white with one red diagonal stripe whereas Borac were in an all black strip with red trimmings. The names of the Borac players were written on the back of their shirts in Cyrillic, whereas Zrinjski’s were written in Roman script.
Zrinjski started brightly and created the first chance in the third minute when ex-Antwerp forward Irfan Hadzic laid the ball back for Ticinovic to shoot from just inside the area, but the shot deflected off Vojnovic for a corner. Borac keeper Cetkovic’s confidently claimed two early corners before the home side had a big appeal for handball when Hadzic’s shot struck the arm of Lazic but the referee waved play on as Lazic’s arm was not in an unnatural position.
As Zrinjski continues to press, Jankovic’s long range effort went wide and high, then a careless pass from Cetkovic as Borac attempted to play around at the back hit a Zrinjski player but fortunately for the keeper rebounded back to him rather than to Hadzic.
Borac’s first serious incursion into the Zrinjski half occurred in the 12th minute as Mrkiac ran onto a ball over the top and his cross from the left saw the home defence adopt a safety first attitude to give away a corner.
After 15 minutes, the possession statistics were 57% in favour of the home side, and they continued to dominate without being able to get a shot on target. Borac again carelessly gave the ball away trying to build from the back, Ticinovic intercepted, advanced into the penalty area only for his shot to be blocked by the head of Predragovic, and shortly after Ticinovic headed a left wing cross well wide from 12 yards. Hadzic’s cross-cum-shot then went across the face of the goal and off for a goal-kick.
In the 35th minute, Stranput’s long range attempt stung the hands of Cetkovic for the first shot on target in the match. On the stroke of half-time a fine last ditch tackle prevented Ticinovic latching onto Hadzic’s pass at full stretch, and with Cetkovic again commandingly claiming the corner, the sides went into the dressing rooms all square.
Borac had shown very little going forward, but Zrinjski were finding it hard to make any impression against a well-organised defence. Nevertheless, the odds on a Borac win had stretched to 6/1 with Bet365. Zrinjski made two changes at half-time, with Hadzic and Drljo being replaced by Mandic and Cuze.
Zrinjski continue to be in the ascendency without making the breakthrough. Vojnovic was forced to head over the bar to prevent danger, then Cuze and Stranput combined to give Mandic sight on goal, but his effort flashed the wrong side of the post.
With 50 minutes played, Borac had their first real chance of the match. HSK keeper Condric was forced out of his area to intercept a through ball intended for Mrkaic but his pass was wayward. Kulasin took possession and sent a first time shot from close to the half-way line towards the unguarded net. Magdic was desperately covering for Zrinjski, being able to get a header to divert the ball into the air before retreating and clearing the ball off the line. However, the TV replays suggested the ball may have been over the line, but the pictures were not conclusive, and play continued.
If Borac were disappointed by this decision, their mood changed a minute later when Mandic pulled back Kulasin when he was about to burst clear into the penalty area, and the referee produced the obvious red card. Mandic had been on the pitch less than 7 minutes. Ninkovic sent the free-kick a foot over the bar.
If Borac now thought they had the advantage, the game almost immediately took another turn. Zrinjski won a free-kick mid-way in the Borac half, and from Jankovic’s floated delivery, centre-back Hrvoje Barisic leapt to head powerfully past Cetkovic to give his side the lead after 54 minutes.
With the extra man, Borac started to take control of the game as they searched for the equalizer but they were fortunate after Ninkovic was unluckily adjudged to have fouled Zlomislic and was shown a yellow card, but after his “in-your-face” rant in protest to referee he was very lucky not to have been shown another yellow.
Despite having most of the ball, Condric in the Zrinjski goal was relatively untroubled, with the closest effort being Predragovic’s 25 yard left footed effort sailing a few feet over the bar. In a 5 minute period, Borac had 75% of the possession.
With 8 minutes left on the clock Barisic had to be alert to make a good tackle to prevent Lukic sneaking in at the back post but more drama occurred three minutes from time. Borac’s Spremo had only been on the field for three minutes but made what looked to be a premeditated assault on Cuze leading to a mass brawl, in which Bekic, who had previously been substituted ran onto the pitch to get involved. When things eventually calmed down, the referee showed red cards to Spremo and Bekic, but this meant both sides were now down to 10 players each.
Passions were running high and shortly after play resumed, Zrinjski committed a foul leading to another melee in which Vojnovic pushed Cuze to the floor, but the Zrinjski player went down holding his face when he was clearly pushed in the chest. Perhaps sensing the theatrics, the referee only brandished a yellow card rather than being fooled into showing a red card.
Borac create a final half-chance in the closing stages, Lukic prodding a shot into the side netting from the angle of the 6 yard box. However, Zrinjski held on to take the three points in a frequently bad tempered match that leaves them top of the table of the seasonal break, with a three point lead and a game in hand. Borac will need to find a way to score more frequently if they are to maintain a realistic challenge for the title.
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1i9pP_kHIY
HSK Zrinjski Mostar : Condric – Corluka, Magdic, Barisic, Bekic ( Memija ) – Ticinovic ( Sabljic ), Zlomislic, Jankovic ( Malekinusic ), Stranput, Drljo ( Cuze ) – Hadzic ( Mandic )
FK Borac Banja Luka : Cetkovic – Andric ( Spremo ), Lazic, Vojnovic, Subic – Kulasin ( Zakaric ), Predragovic, Ninkovic ( Jurilj ), Piscevic, Tatar – Mrkaic ( Lukic )
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