Hajduk Split made a huge bid for second place Sunday evening with a 3-2 victory over Dinamo Zagreb who were playing their first match under the new leadership of Zdravko Mamić.
Emotions were up and down for the Bili, who found themselves trailing 1-0 early in the match after Luka Ivanušec found the back of the net in the 13th minute.
The chance was given to Hajduk to tie the match when VAR confirmed a handball occurred in the penalty area. Mijo Caktaš, who has converted seven penalties this season, stepped up with hopes of tying the match, but failed to hit the target.
Mario Ćuić lifed Hajduk’s hopes with a goal in the 31st minute. Further hopes were raised after Dinamo’s Amir Gojak was shown his second yellow card inside 45 minutes, leaving the champions down a mad for the second half.
However, Mislav Oršić found a way around the disadvantage and retook the lead for the hobbled Dinamo side.
But it was the late-game heroics of Čuić who tied the match in the 81st minute.
Pressure mounted against Dinamo to hold the draw, but poor communication between goalkeeper Dominik Livaković and Emir Dilaver led to an unfortunate deflection off the shins of Kevin Theophile-Catherine, resulting in a third goal for Hajduk.
Hajduk took all three points, helping their cause of finishing second, however, two of Hajduk’s rivals also earned victories.
Rijeka managed a close 1-0 victory over Inter Zaprešić thanks to a 71st goal scored by Antonio Čolak from the penalty spot. Osijek managed a comfortable 2-0 win over NK Istra 1961.
NK Lokomotiva dropped two points away to Slaven Bleupo in a 1-1 draw. This allowed Osijek to take the second spot for the time being.
@Medo
That domaci rakija is nice!
No fluke Pasalic has been excellent all year one of Atlanta’s best players I think a lot of Croatian’s missed him become Atlanta usually does not get that much attention. On the other hand don’t expect three goals every game.
The biggest loser is Chelsea for putting a 15 million Euro activation clause on the loan deal.
I remember Chelsea fans a few month ago complaining about this.
They preferred Pasalic over Ross Barkley and Mason Mount…and this is just gonna piss them off even more.
For the National Team though, it’s gonna be hard to take that spot from Nikola Vlasic.
As good as Pasalic has been, Vlasic has been just as good and with a higher ceiling.
The fact that we have Rakitic, Vlasic, and Pasalic battling for that one CAM position is insane.
No room for them in other midfield roles either since it’s already occupied by Modric and Brozovic (with Kovacic warming the bench), lol.
And for sure Atalanta has a legit shot at taking psg In a one game
Ya when do we say Pasalic is becoming legit
He is a major role to Atalantas success
Maybe another cro kid who we forgot about
Remember Rebic sucked it up When he was sick and just growing up for a couple of seasons and look now
Let’s hope Pasalic makes us all think we made a Mistake
Brozo is only on fire because the alcohol content in his system could blow up a house if someone lit a match in his presence!
OMG he just scored his 3rd goal of the game!
I’m probably an asshole for saying this because I have recently been seeing Pasalic’s name pop up quite often but as much as he might be doing well at Atalanta, I want to see him do the same with our National Team!
Not one person saw this coming from Pasalic.
He has been an after thought to many including myself.
Not even the truths kinetic modular logistical software formulas saw this kid turning into the player he is today…or was today a fluke ?
Seeing Pasalic on fire makes me realize even more that forget Rakitic starting at all. We have Rebic, Pasalic, Brozo all on fire in Serie A. We were made for the italia and spanish league to dominate.
I should have waited two seconds: Hat trick.
Two goals for Pasalic … up 5-1.
If Atalanta was in the PL the world would never hear the end of it.
Kovacic starting, needs to have a good game.
Kramaric, to me, is the better goal scorer simply because of his club record with pretty much every team he has played for (except Leicester, who didn’t give him a chance). He’s also better for us than his goal rate shows, since he’s largely played inconsistent minutes for us (many times as a late substitute).
The eye test shows Petkovic linking up well with our midfielders in our most recent qualifiers, and as a result, he scored 4 goals in 5 qualifying games.
You could argue that it’s because he’s playing with better midfielders who compliment his skills. But it’s also a small sample.
People forget that Kramaric made a good impact when he first got capped for the National Team in 2014.
He scored a couple of goals in two qualifiers, and had some assists too. I thought that, for sure, he was going to be a regular starter for us…but then he wasn’t. That was probably in large part due to his transfer to Leicester and not playing first team football.
But it was also unfair to Kramaric (or simply unlucky for him to complete with Mandzukic) that he was never given a full 90-minute game again (until he bailed us out in the Ukraine game).
Bruno was given FIVE starts in a row…
Kramaric was never given that, since his first game in 2014.
I think we need to give Kramaric the starting nod for these Nations League games, and see what he’s really capable of.
Start him the first three games, against this top competition…if he chokes, the sub him out and see what Petkovic can do in the next three games (against top competition).
We will answer the question of whether or not Krama is the real deal (so long as you actually give him minutes)…
and we will answer the question of whether or not Petkovic can score against top competition.
so maminjo , you touched on this
i don’t watch hnl…
but i see petkovic play for the national team, and the guy looks like a maestro with the ball…. .but it looks like he never lights it on fire in a lesser hnl league
if i do a basis stat run
Team Mintues Goals Assist G+A G/Min(G+A)/Min
Dinamo 2768 13 12 25 213 111
HNS 588 5 1 6 118 98
His goal rate is nearly twice as good on the national team per minute… although his contribution rate is kind of similar counting both goals and assists
so…i guess the question is… i petkovic goal rate on the national team just a bit fluky here…and we should generally instead go off his so-so long run track record
or is there something about playing with the players/style of the national team, that brings out a better side to him
in the end, i think its tough to argue kramaric as the better goal scorers… but petkovic definitely a better contorl guy
Odds are that Krama has his best goal rate in a Cro National Team jersey….
Or Perisic murders him after Krama looks off him again in our England match at the Euros lol.
I’m not a fan of Rebic at the #9 spica position.
He’s much more dangerous as a wingers who crashes through defenders, causing chaos, resulting in many opportunities for our more lethal finishers to pounce on.
Rebic is still an average finisher (despite having a fantastic goal rate).
He’s not that guy that you can feed the ball into the box, and he calmly finishes it (like Krama and Petkovic do).
It’s always great to have a player like that as your #9…or a tall mofo that’s dangerous in the air (like Mandzo).
Rebic CAN play the role, but I am very curious to see how many goals a player like Krama can pounce of with Rebic’s chaos.
We’ve never actually seen much of this this yet.
Bruno Petkovic, alongside Rebic, is somehow scoring twice as effectively as his best season in club football. I can’t help but wonder if Krama can do something more (as he’s an even more lethal finisher).
We’ll hopefully get to see this in Nations League in a couple months from now.
I don’t want to see any wild experimentations up top with our forwards. We really need to see what a Perisic-Krama-Rebic trio can do.
@ BZ
Indeed.
There definitely seems to be a new level of refinement in the final third.
I am seeing a focused sense of purpose.
His left foot looks equal to his right.
Maybe it’s just minutes and confidence.
But this is the first time that he has consistently carried his club in meaningful matches the league.
I just hope Dalic is watching this.
Is Rebić our best #9?
He brings that vertical threat.
Vlašić right next to him?
Čuvaj se ..
https://www.vecernji.hr/sport/navijaci-su-mu-najvise-zamjerili-takav-odnos-sa-zdravkom-mamicem-1415572
The Jews will never let us forget…I’m surprised it hasn’t been forced as a curriculum in grade school then shoved down our throats again in hi school.
Never a mention of Stalin and how many 10’s of Mullins he slaughtered or that Chinese dictator who slaughtered even more than Stalin.
It’s getting old and tiresome.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53394102
Anybody think this is a big news story..because a brother german backs up our nationality with song after a few drinks on the adriatic..fuck can’t say nothing anymore ..weak sick world out there .media ,shadow government won’t let anything to do with germany and it’s ww2 axis countries ..live in peace..
@Soul Champ- You said Rebic getting more skilled each game. The guy has always been skilled. Amazingly, he has the speed and power to match his great skills.
Modrić completing his Real career on top.
His legend continues to grows.
He should just take it easy at club level next year.
Keep those popeye calves and magic feet fresh for our Euro 2021 run.
Luka Modric—8.5:
Who can believe Luka will be turning 35-years-old in just a couple of months? The midfielder was at his majestic best, particularly in the first half where he played a visionary pass to Benzema from the right wing. Ended the match with a team high of 3 key passes.
Real Modrić !!
Luka Modric – 9/10
A standout performance from Luka Modric who seems to be aging like wine. The Croatian set things clicking for Madrid in midfield.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PiF7Oc-ICao
Modrić today was incredible. (Again.)
We’ll soon see if Ciuc is any good.
Hajduk has a solid 400,000 euro offer from Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk for him.
I heard Brbic jizzed himself and accepted the offer immediately…before realizing that there is no actual offer and he’s just reading my joke post on a Croatian Sports website.
Cuic any good?
HNL – produced this guy !!
Modric’s form has been one of the keys to Madrid’s run since football returned, and there can be no questioning his importance to the side.
Should Madrid go on to clinch the title, it’ll be Modric’s second LaLiga Santander at the club and his 16th in all since joining from Tottenham.