HNL Match Week 1: Dinamo And Rijeka Set The Pace For The HNL Title Fight

Dinamo vs Istra (5-0)

Dinamo took off and recorded a statement win on Friday against Istra in the opening day match of the 2024/25 HNL campaign. Jakirović and his squad wasted no time setting the tempo for what caliber of a team they will be this season. With the HNL seeming to be even more openly contested this season, Dinamo’s 5-0 thrashing of Istra for now has put to rest worries about missing pieces in the squad for the upcoming campaign. Baturina, yet again proved himself to be the maestro of Dinamo’s midfield by recording a hat trick of assists in Friday’s match. Another sign of strength was that Dinamo excelled offensively without Petković seeing any minutes against Istra, instead opting to rely upon Sandro Kulenović to lead the line. Kulenović did not disappoint racking up two goals for Dinamo in the season opener, proving himself to be another reliable asset for Dinamo in the upcoming campaign. For Dinamo a 5-0 win was perfect for setting the tone for this seasons title fight, everything that could had gone well went well and they will use this momentum heading into next weeks clash with Osijek, who had a less than favorable start to their HNL campaign.

Hajduk vs Slaven (2-1)

Hajduk survived a contested clash with Slaven that ended 2-1 on Sunday at a sold out Poljud. While expectations and hopes were high in Split, Hajduk’s strength as title contender was put into question by a Slaven Belupo side that came into life in the second half and gave Hajduk’s new squad a real test on the opening day. Hajduk opened in the first half strong, seemingly with a 2-0 lead going into the break thanks to a PK for Livaja and a goal by Hajduk’s new signing Sangyang. However, Slaven were able to find themselves back into match right before the end of the half in stoppage time when Šakota snuck a shot passed Kalinić, megging the keeper and bringing Slaven back to life. Despite Slaven playing better in the second half, Hajduk would strike again off a goal by Pukštas, that ended up being deemed offsides. Officiating in the match was contested by both the Slaven and Hajduk fans regarding key calls in the match. Slaven’s coach in a fired up press conference claimed the penalty given to Hajduk was the wrong call and also complained that the refs showed hypocrisy by giving Lučić a second yellow card for a foul similarly committed by Rakitić, who also was on a yellow, minutes before. He also seeming to accuse refs of bias towards Hajduk and Dinamo by suggesting, Hajduk vs Dinamo is the only match that matters, calling other teams ‘Spectators’. Hajduk fans also contested Pukštas’s overturned goal, a goal that was cancelled based upon where his arm was when he leaned forward when the ball first made contact off a free kick. Despite the challenges and controversy in the match, Hajduk came out off the match with all three points and win on their opening match of the campaign.

Osijek vs Šibenik (1-2)

Osijek found themselves stunned after being defeated by HNL newcomers and Prva NL champions Šibenik off of two mistakes by their new goalkeeper, Nikola Čavlina that cost them points in their home opener. While Osijek did defensively make mistakes that cost them two goals that never should have been conceded, Šibenik tactically played excellently to prevent Osijek from creating good chances on the opposite end of the field. Šibenik’s ability to properly defended their box and force Osijek to recycle the ball, rendered Osijek’s 77% possession useless in the match. Šibenik also forced Osijek to take more shorts from further range, which did allow a powerful strike from Soldo to sneak in for a short lived equalizer, but overall tactically Šibenik were strong and smart enough to earn themselves a full three points in their return to the HNL. Osijek enters into yet another campaign seemingly with the same issue of not being able to finish off lower quality sides, something that has cost them often in seasons before. With arguably their strongest side since finishing runners up in 2021, Coppitelli and Osijek are going to need to figure out their issues as their supporters expectations grow higher and higher each season, and the excuses available for the management are slowly running out. As for Šibenik, after coming back in the Prva NL and earning their HNL spot on the final match of the season against Zrinski, this opening match was the perfect chance to establish themselves a team who can be competitive in the HNL, and not a repeat of Dragovoljac or Rudeš.

Rijeka vs Lokomotiva (4-0)

Rijeka cruised through a Lokomotiva side that were competitive last campaign, in a 4-0 victory at Rujevica. While Rijeka have seen and are expecting to see more players leave the club this window, they have proven the current squad still packs the same offensive power seen in last season’s campaign. Sopić and his squad will be relieved to calm worries after narrowly moving forward in Europa League qualifiers, winning 1-0 on aggregate against Romanian 2nd Division side Corvinul. Despite a slow start in Europe, Rijeka proved they have the ability to score goals this campaign, relying upon last season’s two stars in their attack, Fruk and Ivanović. Both Fruk and Ivanović grabbed themselves a goal and an assist against the Lokosi on Sunday. Lokomotiva, who have lost a lot of key players from last seasons fight for Europe found themselves in a rude awakening for the upcoming HNL season, signaling that the Zagreb based club may need to change things around tactically to find themselves back in 5th, or higher this season.