HNL Week 27: Hajduk Slip Up While Rijeka Extends Their Cushion In First Place

Hajduk vs Lokomotiva (1-2)

Hajduk drop a crucial three points in the title race to an inform Lokomotiva side that has been climbing the HNL table. An early red card against Dino Mikanović saw Hajduk play most of the match a man down. Robert Mudražija would end up being the hero for Lokomotiva, scoring two goals and leading his team to a 2-1 win over Hajduk. This gave the Lokosi a golden opportunity to grab three points and leapfrog Osijek for the 4th place spot. Should Lokomotiva hold onto their 4th place spot, European football would be guaranteed for them regardless of where they finish in the ongoing Croatian Cup. Continental play has not been seen by Lokomotiva since their runners-up finish in 2020 that saw them go into the Champions League Qualifiers. Meanwhile, Hajduk’s best chance to win the title in nearly 19 years is slowly slipping away from them after their defeat on Saturday. This loss lines Hajduk up for an extra important derby clash against Dinamo two weekends from now. With the Eternal Derby holding much more weight than usual, both sides chances at the HNL trophy could hang in the balance of the result in this match. Hajduk’s loss also allows Rijeka to cushion their lead at the top with a four point gap now. On the other hand, Dinamo is only a point behind Hajduk with a game in hand, a win in that rematch game would see Dinamo be within two points of Rijeka’s spot at the top of the HNL.

Dinamo vs Rudeš (3-0)

Dinamo get another easy win against Rudeš in a loosely labelled Zagreb Derby. In nearly all three meetings between these clubs the game have been less than competive, with this weeks matchup being more or less the same. Dinamo cruised to victory with goal contributions from Moreno Živković, Fran Brodić, and Petar Sučić. Petar Sučić grabbed his first goal for Dinamo in his career, this comes off the back of him seeing increasingly more minutes in the Dinamo starting XI. Dinamo’s win puts them in great position for the Eternal Derby that will be played after the International Break. With Dinamo dissapointingly knocked out of European play, the Purgeri can focus all their efforts back into winning the HNL this season. As for Rudeš, nothing promising was show in the match besides their goal keeper, Matej Marković, who recorded nine saves in the match. His performance in net was not enough to stop Dinamo’s routing of Rudeš, but it definitely made the scoreline more favorable then it could have been.

Rijeka vs Slaven (1-0)

Rijeka’s one goal win over Slaven will be enough for Rijeka to extend the gap between the rest of the clubs as they look to secure the title. Rijeka’s lone goal scorer was Niko Galešić, who scored in the 50th minute. That 50th minute goal was enough to give Rijeka a crucial win in the title fight, a win that puts them even closer to getting the HNL trophy at the end of the season. With 3/4 rounds of HNL played Rijeka will face off against Dinamo, Hajduk, and Osijek one more time. Their four point lead will be crucial in the last nine games of the HNL as the title race seemingly will come down to the wire. With Hajduk losing, Rijeka seem to be the club with the biggest advantage going into these final matches. Slaven on the other hand played Rijeka to a low scoring game but failed to create many chances of their own having only two shots on target. With the losses of both Crnac and Hoxha, their two best attacking players this season it has been tough for the Farmaceuti to find goals in close matches like on Saturday with Rijeka.

Osijek vs Varaždin (0-1)

Varaždin’s huge upset win over Osijek could see Osijek dangerously close to not playing European football for the first time since 2016. Lokomotiva’s win over Hajduk sees them take over Osijek’s spot in 4th place and hold a three point advantage over the Bijelo-Plavi. Varaždin found their lone goal early on in the match thanks to a goal from Leon Belcar in the 12th minute. While Osijek statistically were the better side on the night, they could not find a goal to salvage even a point against Varaždin. This puts massive pressure on Zoran Zekić who seemingly is on the verge of being sacked after Osijek’s poor run of form in the past few matches. In their last 8 matches Osijek has managed to only record one win and three draws. Osijek now sits in 5th place, a spot that the club was desperately trying to avoid after last season’s collapse after the winter break. Osijek now has nine matches left until the end of the season to salvage European play or they will see their season end as a complete disaster. Varaždin now see themselves jump up to 7th in the lower midtable pack that has been changing up all throughout the season.