Written By: Andrew R.
Hajduk Split vs. Slaven (3-0)
Hajduk comfortably kept their 3-game winning streak alive in a 3-0 win over Slaven Sunday evening. Hajduk’s goals came from last season’s leading goal scorer, Marko Livaja, and Hajduk newcomer, Leon Dajaku. Dajaku’s arrival at Poljud was controversial after he failed to find his footing at Sunderland. Hopefully with his first goal for Hajduk, he can regain his confidence. As for Slaven, they continue to face major defensive issues. Slaven have given up 13 goals in the four games they have played so far. Antun Marković did have a penalty save today which was a bright spot of Slaven’s less than impressive day. As Hajduk see other teams in the HNL having to postpone their games — Dinamo, Rijeka, Gorica — they continue to surge up the table, establishing themselves early as the team to beat thus far in the HNL season.
Istra vs. Osijek (4-4)
While Osijek are the highest scoring team in the league so far, averaging 4.6 goals per game, defensively they have been less than impressive. Despite having a 4-2 lead going into the 80th minute of the game, Osijek only managed to earn a 4-4 result versus Istra on Sunday. Many of the Osijek faithful have been inspired so far with the Slavonski side…until this week. Including Europe, Osijek have given up nine goals in their last two matches. Osijek have conceded 13 goals so far in all competitions and after giving up nine of those in one week, many questions will be asked. With Barišić being rumored to be heading out the door, many are left to wonder about Osijek’s defensive stability for the upcoming season. As for Istra after a tough start to the season, Sunday’s comeback is a sign of hope of resilience for the Istrian side. If they can rack up the goals like they did against Osijek, last season’s form is still possible.
Varaždin vs. Rudeš (2-0)
After falling short in the last two games, Varaždin got their first win of the season against Rudeš. Robert Prosinečki’s side remain the only team in the league without a win to their name. Fran Brodić continues his brilliant run of form scoring his fifth goal of the season. Igor Postonojski scored a brilliant goal to add to the tally for Varaždin. Today’s win keeps Varaždin in the list of HNL teams who have not lost yet. This list includes Osijek, Hajduk and Gorica as well. If Varaždin can keep turning draws into wins, they could be on track for a very promising season. Rudeš however could be in for a long season if they don’t slowly start getting points out of games.
https://www.goalstube.online/2023/08/lubeck-hoffenheim.html?m=m2
Classic Kramaric goal today.
Goncalo Ramos was sold, and Musa (who had a good preseason) scored one of the goals in Benfica’s Super Cup win last week. Perfect chance for Musa to fight for a first team place against newly arrived striker Arthur Cabral.
He finally got to start for Benfica in their first league match today and then boom, received an unlucky red card…
https://streamin.me/v/18d38435
Just to add he was sent off in the 50th minute.
Based on the video that seems like a harsh call by the ref.
https://www.slbenfica.pt/en-us/agora/noticias/2023/08/14/futebol-boavista-benfica-cronica-do-jogo-1-jornada-liga-betclic
Yeah harsh call. If you visit the match report above and see the video highlights at the 02:10 mark, you can see Musa’s foot slipped off the ball and went down unavoidably onto the Boavista player’s leg. No nasty intent from Musa, but I guess the ref couldn’t tell.
Benfica lost the match 2-3 in the end. Hopefully it’s just a 1 match suspension for Musa. Anyway Benfica brought in Arthur Cabral for 20M euros, so I guess Musa will be the substitute striker again this season…
I am having trouble finding a site to steam the Croatian league in Australia and suggestions?
this site usually works excellent but you really need to be patient and keep trying to remove the x when starting. make sure you click on the proper sport and often times there are more than 1 channel to view it on. I’ve used this when I’m in desperation and it always works for me so like I said, be patient and sometimes you have to click the same button and then delete the pop up…3 times or more
http://utakmice.net/rukometuzivo/
Move to Melbourne. Or get a VPN
so far I’ve watched most of the HNL this season…I’ve also watched Hajduk and Rijeka in Europe, it seems like there’s been some pretty decent improvements with both Hajduk and Rijeka while Osijek is like “lipstick on a pig”! Dinamo on the other hand seems to be wavering between dominating all of their games but lacking in scoring when they need a goal…ie carrying almost 70% of the play vs Hajduk but couldn’t score…carrying 76% of the play vs Gorica without scoring.
I’ve mentioned Istra in the past and watched them play Osijek yesterday and Ohhhh Lordy, what a come-back! Osijek had the lead all game and then in the 90th minute Ante Erceg decided to take on the entire Osijek defense and he scored a doozy of a goal…and this is why I like this league. Istra are the Jeckyl and Hyde of this league and they can pull off some very “fun to watch” performances when you least expect them to.
Hajduk have added several new faces to their club and based on yesterday’s performance, one thing is very clear…they now have some competition at several positions and this is a good thing for them. Guys that have had their tires pumped…ie…Mlakar and Krovinovic now have competition and I pray to God that Leko keeps the competition for starting 11 going. In yesterday’s game, Leko subbed out Krovinovic (the master of playing the ball backwards) and he put Niko Sigur from right back to centre defensive midfield …and at the same time he subbed out Mlakar for Sahiti…and then BOOM, within 9 minutes Hajduk scored their first goal and then 9 minutes after that, Sigur sends a beautiful long ball right in the path of Livaja and Livaja scored his second goal. With 2 half-time changes, Hajduk comes alive and this is something I haven’t seen from them in a loooong time.
in my opinion, Rijeka have the absolute best coach in the HNL this season and yet, their probably much weaker as a club than both Hajduk and Dinamo so I’m hoping they remain focused and injury free. Jakirovic’s only real mistake so far was when Rijeka played Hajduk and he decided play a defensive game. I’m not sure he would do this again if he had a mulligan but regardless of that, Rijeka are learning to win with the players they have and thats a good sign for a club that isn’t really stacked well enough to compete with Hajduk and Dinamo as far as player personnel goes.
last note about this weekends games.
Marko Livaja…WOW! He’s just wayyyy above anyone in the HNL, hands down! That guy is incredibly strong and it looks like he can hold off 3 players at once. He can score from almost any position on the field. He’s more than a goal scorer if you ask me…the guy looks super human against any and all defenders and if you give him an inch, you’re done!
This Livaja makes me wonder why he soo irrelevant with our National team. Its like he’s one player at Hajduk and then a complete lazy and irrelevant player with our National team…and I wonder if he’s being told to play differently or if his responsibilities are different but it just doesn’t make sense at all. He is everywhere with Hajduk …always involved once the ball is moved up field and he’s barely involved with our National team…almost embarrassingly unnoticeable.
Slavonac, thanks for your analysis, always great…..what is the best way to watch HNL in Canada?….or, at the least, if not the best way, how are you getting the HNL games yourself up in the Thompson-Okanagan?
Hey AJ, I bought a Mag Box on Amazon almost 1.5 years ago for approximately $125 and then I got this guy from Toronto area to set it up for me. I pay $15/month…no need for a VPN or anything like that…all you need is good wifi and you can watch all big Euro country’s league play, as well as all HNL and Croatia’s games live, on their channels. Its the same for Italy, Spain, England…
I use that Mag Box anywhere in the world, as long as I have wifi. I even use it while camping if there is good wifi.
Thanks Slavonac…
Everything at Hajduk is centered around him.
I don’t think he is lazy for the national team. He is playing much higher level of competition and things are not as easy against world class players. And Dalic does set up the squad around him. I don’t think he should. Total different system and what is asked from him.
Livaja has no speed and that is noticeable when he is going after a ball. But when he wins a ball and has it at his feet, his movement is so good with the ball that he appears quicker when he has the ball than without it. You can’t teach that. It is a skill. I thought his best play last week was early in the PAOK game when he was wide on the right side and played a perfect ball across the box to Mlakar who ended up missing the chance badly. It was a pass who would see from Modric or De Bruyne.
People keep saying that Livaja is irrelevant for the repka. Not true! He assisted Orsić on the bronze-winning goal. Everyone keeps forgetting that. He scored goals in qualifying that pushed him higher up the pecking order of strikers. Livaja played his part at the world cup in spite of a nagging injury and has his name on the trophy just like every other player who was there. The guy’s footballing skill gets demeaned way too much just because people don’t like him, but he is a sensational footballer, even if he is a bit slow. Once he has the ball, he is world class. And for those about to comment that he couldn’t cut it outside of the HNL, there is plenty of evidence in his favor. He was very good at Las Palmas, in the best league in the world.
Ohhh Good God, take off your homer glasses! I am the type of person to give credit whether I “like” a player or not…as you might have seen I’ve been praising the guy ever since he came back to Hajduk so please…gimme a damn break about him playing with the National team and being relevant. I’ll give you a breakdown:
Playing abroad:
8 teams in 10 years
205 games played – 39 goals scored (less than 1 goals every 5 games 0.19 goals/game)
Playing at Hajduk:
79 games played – 52 goals (0.66 goals/game)
he was problematic, getting into fights with his teammates, his coaches couldn’t control him and sent him away almost every single season.
“world class”…dude, I’m just gonna have to stop reading your comments, you really are exposing yourself. world class is someone like Benzema, Mbappe, Lewandowski, Ronaldo, Messi….not even Mandzukic (who scored far more important goals than Livaja) was considered world class!
“The guy’s footballing skill gets demeaned way too much just because people don’t like him”
you really are completely blinded. most of us can’t stand Kramaric but we all compliment him when he does well. WTF has Livaja ever done for Croatia…he’s scored 4 fucking goals in 5 years with the National team…we keep searching for Simic, Beljo, Musa, Ljubicic…or anyone else that scores a single goal because we have a problem in attack and you’re suggesting our very own “WORLD CLASS” Livaja is the answer…even though he’s shown us shit?
take off your homer glasses dude, this is embarassing! Livaja has had tons of opportunities and I do like him in HNL…as I’ve clearly stated he’s incredible in that league but he sucks balls for us so far on the National team. if he ever wakes up, I’ll be the first to admit it but until then, stop making things up!
I also had a question, I couldn’t remember. Do National Squad have the ability to change their team selections for the upcoming qualifier matches or are they bound to the previous selections??
Team lists or squads for the qualifiers in September are announced two weeks prior to the matches being played. They are NOT bound by the previous selections.
Thanks Mart.
It’s a decent start for Hajduk. We will have to see how things progress by mid-season. I am hopeful that they can beat PAOK, and give themselves a good start in the conference league as well.