HNL Week 5: Dinamo Drops First Points Of Season In 1-1 Draw vs. Rijeka

Dinamo’s 4-game win streak in the HNL was cut short after drawing 1-1 with Rijeka on the road at Rujevica Sunday. Dinamo held the lead going into halftime thanks to an early goal from Petković. Petko received the ball in the box and perfectly left-footed the ball into the side netting. Rijeka however found themselves back in the match thanks to a long range volley from Veldin Hodža that reawakened the crowd at Rujevica. While taking points off a Dinamo team that seems to be absolutely dominating the HNL is an achievement for Rijeka, if they were slightly more clinical, Rijeka could have walked out with all three points. Rijeka found themselves with twice as many shots as Dinamo in the match and also held Dinamo to only one shot on target. Dinamo entered Sunday going into a tough 3-game stretch with Rijeka, Hajduk, and Bayern Munich all ahead on their schedule. How well Dinamo handles Hajduk and Bayern after their draw with Rijeka will be a very strong test of just how much strength and depth is in this Dinamo squad.

In other action around the league, Hajduk edged out Osijek in a 1-0 defeat that sees Hajduk exit from a bumpy spell of three games without a win and an upset exit in the Conference League qualifiers. As for Osijek, their season continues to get worse and worse as they record their 4th loss this season and sit level on points with last place Slaven Belupo, beating them out for 9th only on goal difference. Despite big signings brought in by Boto, Osijek still find themselves unable to gel with a team that was supposed to lift them out of last season’s poor form. Other matches in the HNL saw Šego continue to step up for Varaždin as they win 1-0 over Lokomotiva, Gorica give Šibenik their 2nd loss of the season in a 2-1 match, and Istra give Slaven Belupo their 4th loss in 1-0 victory in Koprivnica.