HNL Week 7

NK Istra 1961 and Dinamo Zagreb put on what was one of the most entertaining matches the HNL has seen in recent times.

4,000 people enjoyed the spectacle at Aldo Drosina as Istra and Dinamo played to a 1-1 draw that kept fans on the edge of their seat.

Vanja Iveša will become a household name throughout Pula – that is if he already isn’t one – as the 38-year-old journeyman goalkeeper was one of the highlights of the match.

Iveša, who played with Istra in the early 90s, has returned to his home town to finish off his career in 2015. Iveša saved 12 of the 13 shots he faced in the 90 minutes of action.

Iveša’s work started in the ninth minute where he was forced to make a double save from two shots from Angelo Henriquez. The saves kept the match scoreless until Istra took the lead in the 18th minute with a goal from Damir Slomišlić.

Slomišlić’s shot came from the top of the 18 yard box and was hammered low and hard into the far corner, out of reach of Eduardo.

Ante Čorić scored the tying goal for Dinamo in the 34th minute, one-timing a cross from Domagoj Antolić into the far corner of the goal for his first league goal of the season.

Dinamo would see the bulk of the remaining scoring chances for the remainder of the match, which only added to the Vanja Iveša show.

Said Husejinović made his return to the Modri line up and and registered several shots on goal, but was not able to beat the keeper.

The line up also consisted of five players that were born in Zagreb. Filip Benković, Mario Musa, Domagoj Antolić, Jozo Šimunović, and Ante Čorić. Marko Pijaca also entered the game, bringing the total of Zagreb-born players for Dinamo to six.

Dinamo threatened several times on goal late in the second half, including a breakaway featuring Junior Fernandes, but Iveša got the best of him and kept the score tied.

Istra too had several chances on the counter against Dinamo. Stefan Nikolić was agonizingly close to taking back the lead when headed a ball on goal that grazed the top of the cross bar and went over the net.

In the end, Dinamo was the dominant team with 62 percent of the possession and registering 13 shots of goal, but the teams split the points and remain only three points separated on the table. Dinamo sits atop the table with 13 points while Istra in fifth with 10 points.

Hajduk secured a valuable three points against the struggling Osijek at Poljud on Sunday evening.

Elvir Maloku scored the first of Hajduk’s three goals in the 19th minute.

Maloku let off a low shot from the top of the 18 yard box. Zvonimir Mikulić was just able to get his finger tips on the ball, but it wasn’t enough, and the ball found its way to the back of the net for the game’s opening goal.

Hajduk continued to completely dominate the match. The Bili held 70 percent of the possession and held Osijek to zero shots on goal, and allowing them to take only one shot the whole game, which went wide of Lovre Kalinić’s net.

The score remained the same despite the dominance of the home team until the 87th minute when Mijo Caktaš headed in a corner kick from 12 yards out.

Andrja Balić sent in a pinpoint corner kick to Caktaš who was camping out near the penalty spot when he firmly struck the ball with his head into the goal to give Hajduk a 2-0 lead.

The young Caktaš has just been recently called up by Niko Kovac to participate in Croatia’s Euro 2016 qualifying campaign against Azerbaijan and Norway on Sept. 3 and 6.

The match was all but over in the 91st minute when Marko Bencun added a third tally to the scoresheet for the Bili to give the final score 3-0.

Hajduk have moved up to fourth place with 10 points while Osijek remain in the relegation zone after their third consecutive loss and fourth defeat in the last five matches.

RNK Split found themselves on the losing side of a scoreline while playing at home after falling to HNK Rijeka 2-0.

Rijeka is continuing their surge up the ladder and find themselves in second place, two points back from Dinamo after the win.

Two goals from Marin Tomasov gave Rijeka the two-goal victory and started off with an impressive goal in the seventh minute.

Tomasov took one touch after receiving the ball to settle in place and blasted it from 25 yards out to easily beat the goalkeeper.

Rijeka flooded the first half with scoring opportunities, but Danijel Zagorac was there to keep the score 1-0.

The second half was much of the same with Rijeka hammering the goal with shots. Again, Zagorac was there to help his team keep victory in their sights.

Split saw even more hope after Marko Lešković was sent off in the 59th minute after denying a Dražen Bagarić a clear scoring opportunity and being issued a red card, leaving Split with the man advantage.

But the extra player didn’t help the Reds and they found their hopes dashed after Tomasov scored a second goal in the 84th minute.

Split remain bow find themselves in third place, but are tied with Rijeka on points.

After securing their first win of the season, NK Inter Zaprešić secured their first away win of the season after beating NK Lokomotiva 2-1 at Kranjčevićeva in front of a weekend-low attendance of 300.

Ilija Nestorovsky is looking to bring his Druga Liga scoring title to the big time and scored his fourth goal of the season in the 11th minute.

Nesorovsky was left unmarked in the middle of the penalty area when a cross came it. Nestorovsky had a free header that found its way into the goal.

Lokomotiva had several strong chances on goal, most notably Jan Doležal in the 40th minute, who had a shot from close range but Josip Posavec made an impressive save to preserve his team’s lead.

An unfortunate deflection is to blame for Lokomotiva’s first goal only 2 minutes later from a shot taken by Josip Čorić.

Čorić took a shot 20 yards from goal just before half time but the shot took a bounce off an Inter defender before going in the net.

A mistake by Lokosi goalkeeper, Ivan Filipović allowed for the game winning goal to get by him.

Andrea Ottochian took a shot from th3 left side of the penalty area. Filipović dove to his left to make the save, but was awkwardly too close to his line and the ball rolled right over his hands.

The Lokosi were unable to find a second goal, and they did not make matters easier after Jerko Leko was sent off in the 82nd minute with his second yellow card.

The match remained 2-1 and ended with Inter winning their second game of the season.

The match between NK Slaven Belupo and NK Zagreb at Gradski Vrt in Koprivnica ended in a 2-1 victory for the home team, but was hindered by a power outage.

Slaven’s Mario Jurčić scored the games opening goal in the 18th minute and was followed by Muzaffer Ejupi’s fourth goal of the season which was scored from the penalty spot in the 41st minute.

An additional 15 minutes were played after the full 90 to compensate for the time lost in the power outage, which was just enough time for Zagreb to make it onto the scoresheet.

Lovro Medić scored Zagreb’s consolation goal in the 104th minute, but it made no difference and the Pharmacists were awarded all three points.