Dinamo Zagreb easily skated their way to a big victory in Pula on Sunday when they faced NK Istra at Aldo Drosina.
The Modri’s 4-0 victory started early with a goal from Marko Pjaca in the second minute.
The goal came from a quick pass to Pjaca from Soudani, who scored a goal for himself in the 50th minute.
Istra showed no real challenge to Dinamo and let them easily score another goal, this time from Junior Fernandes.
Fernandes received a cross from Ivo Pinto, who lofted the ball over the Istra defense. Little was done to stop Fernandes from receiving the ball, and the Chilean forward calmly brought the ball down and shot it into the goal.
Istra goalkeeper, Saša Dreven, was left hung out to dry on all three goals to that point, but his inexperienced showed as he came sliding out feet first on Fernandes’ shot.
Dreven was beaten once again before the match’s end, this time from Franko Andrejašević.
Andrejašević’s goal came from a fluke deflection that bounced off an Istra defender and shot into the air only to land just out of the reach of Dreven and under the cross bar.
With the win, Dinamo remain at the top of the table, four points ahead of Rijeka.
It has also been confirmed by Zdravko Mamić that his brother, Zoran Mamić, will remain as the head coach for the remainder of the season.
Speculation rose when there were rumors of Vahid Halilhodžić making a return to Dinamo, but both Mamić and Halilhodžić put an end to those rumors.
HNK Hajduk Split played their second and final behind-closed-doors-match on Saturday against the visiting NK Zagreb.
It was probably for the best that there were no fans allowed in the stadium (due to the incident against Rijeka at Dugoplje’s stadium) because Hajduk Split fell to the smaller of the Zagreb clubs with a score of 2-0.
After protesting the match against Dinamo Zagreb last week and were punished with a loss, the Bili were hoping to make up those three points with a win against another club from Zagreb, but failed to find the back of the net on any occasion.
The Poets on the other hand scored twice to take all three points on the road, though, they did not have to play against the “12th man”, also known as Torica, that would normally be in attendance.
Zagreb’s win puts them into fifth place, only five points behind third-place Hajduk, and only behind stadium co-residents, Lokomotiva.
Filip Krovinović scored first for the Poets after taking on five Hajduk defenders at once. After the defenders converged on him, he let go a shot that Lovre Kalinić was not able to save.
Robert Mudražija scored the insurance goal to secure the victory. Both players scored their first goals of the season in the match.
HNK Rijeka narrowly defeated visiting NK Osijek on Monday evening while playing on a water-logged pitch at Kantrida.
Heavy rains fell all day in Rijeka and nearly cancelled the match, but in a game-time decision, it was decided that the teams will play the match despite of the poor field conditions.
Rijeka took the match with a score of 2-1. Miral Smaradžić scored the opening goal off a header from a free kick that Mato Jajalo had sent in from outside the penalty area.
Moises doubled Rijeka’s lead with another goal in the 62nd minute.
But Osijek kept the match close with by scoring a lucky goal off a blunderous clearance attempt from Ivan Vargić.
Vargić attacked the ball in the air in an attempted to punch it away, but punched it right into Matej Jonjić who stuck is leg out to deflect the ball into the net.
In a rare match, Andrej Kramarić did not score a goal. He was subbed out in the 90th minute.
It has also been reported that the Premier League’s Chelsea FC have shown great interest in the talented striker and are nearest a deal to secure him for the club.
It has also been rumored that if Kramarić leaves Rijeka, he will be replaced by Ante Rebić. It is unclear though if Rebić will join the club permanently or on loan.
Rijeka remain in second place with the win only four points behind Dinamo.
Slaven Belupo welcomed Zadar to Koprivnica on Friday and presented them with a big 4-0 defeat.
Zadar has been severely struggling, even under the control of the great Ćiro Blazević.
Zadar remain in last place while Slaven are safely sit in seventh place, which is the highest position they have been in since the start of the season.
Slaven also played the game in Friday in the honor of a very sick young girl named Marijeti Bugarin. Slaven, as well as NK Zadar, teamed up with the charity Volim Život and have decided to donate all ticket sales to help Marijeti with her illness.
Another Mali Derbi took place in Zagreb on Saturday, this time featuring NK Lokomotiva and RNK Split at Stadium Kranjčevića.
The two clubs ended up splitting the points thanks to goals from Split’s Marko Rog and Loko’s Jan Doležal.
A smaller victory for one Split player also occurred during the match. Split’s 22-year-old defender, Nino Galović has played every minute of all 17 matches so far this season. He has also played in eight Europa League matches, two cup matches, and one match for Croatia’s U21 squad this season. He has played every minute of those matches and has yet to receive a single yellow card.
Bravo, Nino.
http://www.glas-koncila.hr/index.php?option=com_php&Itemid=41&news_ID=25663
As Dr. Prle has alluded to already.
http://www.24sata.hr/politika/meu-pet-najkorumpiranijih-zemalja-u-eu-je-i-hrvatska-396538
I guess this is what most of us already knew.
Reno Sinovcic is Bjezigrad’s govno. Another guy who went from low level criminal/wannabe mobster to holding some influence within cro soccer. He is as bad as Mamic, just on a lower scale as he also forced kids to sign personal service contracts. I might be wrong, but I think he had something to do with Serb Subasic’s move to hajduk.
Plus, he fixed a few games back in the day when he was a ref.
He is small fish. He is going down instead of bigger fish.
http://www.vecernji.hr/hrvatska/tko-je-reno-sinovcic-zadarski-berlusconi-poceo-je-kao-ribar-976961
Doktor or anybody else know more about this guy?
http://www.24sata.hr/nogomet/sramota-cluj-umjesto-da-vrati-loptu-zabio-igraci-su-plakali-396655?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Status&utm_content=396655&utm_campaign=24sata+Facebook+status#
Check out this bullshit in a Romanian Cup game. Instead of returning the ball to the team who played it out on purpose for an injured player, Cluj went on to score and later win in extra time.
Big time sramota.
^^^^^
idiot
@Armada
Maybe. But what about the ‘Benko phenomenon’?
Dude was scoring at a pretty solid rate when he was at Rijeka… then completely stopped scoring once he left. Kramarić was already a good score@Armada
Maybe. But what about the ‘Benko phenomenon’?
Dude was scoring at a pretty solid rate when he was at Rijeka… then completely stopped scoring once he left. Kramarić was already a good scorer before he went to Rijeka, then to it to superhuman levels at Rijeka.
Could it be that Kek is THAT good a coach?
He may not
after all we tried to do
this site makes me vomit in my mouth
Prosinečki takes command in Azerbaijan
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/qualifiers/news/newsid=2190974.html
It’s not a big game and I’ll tell you why.
Kramaric will be sold. Personally, I don’t see Rijeka keeping pace with Dinamo without him OR finding someone who can replace his scoring. Even if they were to bring on a Rebic, I don’t see him stepping in and bagging goals even close to the rate that Andrej does.
Therefore, I see Rijeka then dropping some silly games and eventually finishing comfortably in 2nd, but 10 points or so away from Dinamo.
Dinamo in first, Rijeka roughly 10 points away and Hajduk roughly 10 behind them.
Book it.
Mamic kod srbina u nu2
Ya gotta love the Mamic vs. Kramaric subplot!
Mamic, the corrupt kingpin of Croatian football, the man everyone loves to hate!
Versus…
The new golden boy of Croatian football, out for revenge against his former employer. This is his last chance to leave his mark on the HNL prior to his transfer.
If Rijeka managed to win, the lead us cut to one.
First time it’s been this close, this late in years.
Of course it’s a big game.
It can’t be a big game…….big games draw big crowds and tv interest.
Rebić and his coach at Leipzig do not get along.
The last game he played, he played very well, and his coach downplayed it in the media saying that he himself could do better lol.
poor rebic… does he have a stinken attitude or injuries or what??
looks like he might be one of those should of could of guys
lets hope not… i had big hopes for him
Why the hell would Rebic go back to the HNL?
I’ve been worried about this kids progress since the World Cup…
@Ziva
Sounds like he’s throwing games!
Where’s he off to next, Singapore?
http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/najbolji-hrvatski-kosarkas-porucio-sukeru-i-drustvu-game-over/787232.aspx
Bogdanovic chiming in.
I guess none of this will matter if Kramaric leaves in January.
He’s critical to their success, and they won’t be able to replace him in January. That Rebic talk was just talk. His loan spell is for the full year, and he cannot be sold during this period.
@ ivicA
How they’ll fare in Zagreb? Well, there is only one way to find out…
This game is big. It’s crucial to the title race.
Nah, It’s a pretty big game. Wondering how Rijeka will fare in Zagreb.
There are no big games in the HNL, only big protests.
In news that you can’t make up…….Puppet Suker is in Thailand or some other country in that part of world meeting with soccer officials with checkered pasts. Comical.
Big game on Saturday when Rijeka visits Zagreb