Dinamo Zagreb suffered their first consecutive loss since September of 2008.
After a late game-winning goal from Anas Sharbini last week ended Dinamo’s 50-game unbeaten streak that has lasted since May 10, 2014, RNK Split beat the Croatian giants with a score of 1-0 on Friday in Split.
Peter Franjić was the hero who took Dinamo down and left them in third place, four points behind Rijeka, two points behind Hajduk, and only two points clear of Split who rest in fourth place.
It took only one chance for the Crveni to crack the Dinamo code. Franjić beat the defenders with his speed and was able to tap the ball past Antonio Ježina who was in net for the Modri.
Split played aggressive and were hungry for the goal, but they got the lead they were looking for and did everything they could to keep Dinamo from scoring.
Split might have taken a page out of Jose Mourinho’s playbook and put much effort into defending but it proved to work and Dinamo was handed their second consecutive loss in front of 1,000 fans.
Hajduk Split and Rijeka played to an exciting Jadranski Derbi with 25,000 fans in attendance where Rijeka, who defeated Dinamo only a week ago, marched into Poljud and too a 3-0 victory back home with them.
Roman Bezjak scored first for Rijeka in the 28th minute. Rijeka played one of their best games all season with a diverse range of passing and creative play while Hajduk Split played one of their most lackluster matches of the season.
Hajduk has been looking like a team to compete for the title as of late, but Sunday’s match saw players of the Bili look lost and played in the middle of the field with few offensive chances.
Rijeka struck again in the 42nd minute from Marin Tomasov and Bekim Balaj capped off the night with a third goal in the 50th minute.
A fourth goal was scored soon after by Rijeka, but was called back to due a mysterious off sides call.
Hajduk finally had a chance of their own, but Ivan Vargić defended his net in the 62nd minute to preserve the clean sheet.
On the 65th minute of play, Torcida put on a great display of pyrotechnics and fireworks to celebrate their 65th birthday and being the oldest supporters group in all of Europe.
Due to the celebration by Torcida, play was interrupted for several minutes, but restarted without incident.
Rijeka deservedly and rightly won the match and spoiled the birthday celebration of Torcida.
Rijeka are currently in first place, but Hajduk are right behind. trailing by two points.
History was made during the NK Lokomotiva – NK Osijek match on Saturday when the first female was part of the refereeing squad of a Croatian first division match.
Sanja Rođak Karšić flawlessly judged the sideline of the match where Lokomotiva won 2-1.
Mirko Marić opened the scoring quickly for the Lokosi. Franko Andrijašević brought the ball down the left line and sent in a pinpoint cross to Marić who was camping out 10 yards from goal.
Marić beat Zvonimir Mikulić who desperately tried to make the save, but he came up empty handed and the Lokosi had the lead in the 6th minute.
Osijek quickly turned the tables around and controlled the field after the goal.
Osijek soundly scored in the 15th minute when Mile Škorić hammered a left-footed shot past Oliver Zelenika to tie the game.
But Marić struck again in the 53rd minute, this time from the penalty spot, to give Lokomotiva the ultimate 2-1 lead.
The goal broke the Lokosi’s four-game winless streak but also extended Osijek’s winless streak to six games.
Zagreb and Istra played to a scoreless draw at Aldo Drosina which got Zagreb only their fifth point of the season and still without a win after 15 weeks of play.
Istra and the Poets met each other in the most recent cup match and also played to a draw after 90 minutes. Zagreb ultimately won that match in extra time, but were unable to come out with three points on Saturday despite the opportunities that were presented.
Zagreb found themselves standing on the penalty spot in the 93rd minute with victory only 12 yards away, but nothing is certain in football, especially not penalty kicks.
Valentino Stepčić stepped up to the spot with the intentions of giving the Poets their first win of the season, but Ivan Brkić preserved the draw and the teams split the points.
Slaven Belupo gained their biggest win of the season with a 4-0 home victory over NK Inter Zaprešić.
The victory snapped Slaven’s seven-match winless streak in a big way. In those seven winless games, Slaven has scored a total of three goals but they found their offensive prowess against Zaprešić over the weekend.
Mateas Delić got the scoring started for Slaven in the 20th minute. There was no looking back after that as Stefan Savić followed in the 49th minute and Filip Ozobić scored in the 64th minute.
David Arap scored Slaven’s fourth goal in the 90th minute to finish their convincing win at home.
BONUS 2.HNL COVERAGE
It was another tough match for NK Zadar who find themselves back in the relegation zone.
Zadar payed a visit to Velika Gorica and lost 1-0 after a 76th minute goal was scored by Damir Žutić.
Video here
Sažetak i izjave s utakmice HNK Gorica 1:0 NK Zadar
Posted by Druga HNL on Monday, November 2, 2015
Radnik Sesvete is named after Sveti Josip Radnik.
He was the protector saint of the workers. He may also have been the patron saint of Sesvete, not sure.
This looks like it was probably Commie-driven, but satisfied the Catholic population too. Two birds with on stone I guess.
hvala Colin and Forza Fiume!!!
I’ll stick to my prediction from 10 years ago and say Europski dynamo wins it by double digits.
didn’t see this Jadranski derbi but nice to see 25k catch the game… that must be the high so far this year
still sticking to my pre-season predictions:
Dinamo wins the league by 10-15 points over Rijeka.
Rijeka will take 2nd over Hajduk by 10 points or less.
Hajduk and Split are neck and neck for that 3rd spot.
Rinse and repeat.
@ Ziva
well that begs the question….
what would you rename Dinamo?
would you go Tudman on us and go with something along the lines of Croatia Zagreb? or maybe go Mamic on us and steal a former team from ZG’s history ala HASK/Grandanski/Concordia?
or sell out to some big conglomerate in Cro/Europe?
Red Bull ZG?
NK Ledo ZG?
NK T-Hrvatski ZG?
I have no clue if they. To be honest with you I hadn’t read Radnik in a long time, but I see it in the above table.
Ziva… I could be wrong, but I don’t think they go by “Radnik” Sesvete anymore. Just NK Sesvete. But I’m pretty sure there are plenty of other names you could change.
poor zadar
It is getting interesting……………
Samo naprid Sibenik!
If I ever become president or prime minister of Cro, I would remove all communist era names for sports teams……It doesn’t get more communist than Radnik Sesvete.