Dinamo Zagreb miraculously held on to their undefeated season after scoring a last-second goal against Hajduk Split at Poljud on Saturday.
Hajduk took the lead in the in 73rd minute with a goal from Andrija Balić.
The 17-year-old Balić has been impressive since joining the ranks of Hajduk. The young midfielder has seen the pitch eight times now, scoring three goals and while being a part of three starting lineups.
Though it seemed to be enough for a victory, Balić’s lone goal turned out to be one of the goals in a 1-1 draw against rivals Dinamo Zagreb.
Dinamo are trying to do what no team has ever done in the HNL: Finish the season undefeated. The only other team to ever do that? Hajduk Split in 1950 while playing in the Yugo First League.
Paulo Machado was the hero for Dinamo. His “eurogol” came a the 94th minute and took form as a thunderous volley that bent into the far side of the net, leaving Lovre Kalinić completely helpless in his attempt to make the save.
The final whistle was blown shortly after and the Vjecni Derbi ended in an exciting draw.
Rijeka took care of Igor Štimac and company on Sunday in a 4-0 lopsided victory at Kantrida.
Bekim Balaj started the scoring frenzy in the 27th minute and it only took 10 minutes before Ventisislav Hristov and Marin Leovac scored goals of their own to make it 3-0 in the first half.
The goal from Leovac was worth the price of admission as he smashed a volley from outside of the penalty area and beat the keeper with the massive shot.
Hristov would strike again in the 56th minute to make the final score 4-0 and leaving Zadar in last place once again.
NK Slaven Belupo soundly defeated visiting Lokomotiva with a 4-0 win in Koprivnica, but the highlights of the match were brought to you by the legend Davor Vugrinec.
Only five days before his 40th birthday, the legendary striker entered the game in the last 15 minutes and proceeded to score two goals in the span of two minutes.
He showed the league why he is the all-time leader in goals in the HNL with 146 netted in 336 appearances.
Vugrinec scored his first league goal in 1993. 22 years later, he is still going strong and set a new goal for himself: He states that before his retirement at the end of the season, he would like to reach a new milestone of 150 league goals.
Vugrinec’s career spanned nine different clubs over three nations and 28 appearances for the Croatian National Team, totaling to 440 professional appearances and 194 goals.
While the big boys were busy playing at Poljud on Sunday, there Mali Derbi took place at Kranjčevićeva on Saturday featuring NK Zagreb and RNK Split.
Split would take all three points, winning 2-1 with Antonio Mršić scoring the first goal in the 17th minute.
The goal came after a small scuffle that ended with the referee sending off Gabrijel Boban who came face to face with a Split player who fell backwards with a display worthy of an Oscar to fool the ref into sending Boban off.
Several players took to the media after the match with harsh words for the official including threats such as “I know where you live in Osijek”.
Zagreb was able to answer right back after the goal from Split with a goal from Denis Kolinger in the 25th minute, but Split proved to be too tough for the 10-men Zagreb side and came out as winners thanks to Dražen Bagarić’s 58th minute goal.
Istra’s Dino Špehar snatched three points out of thin air on Sunday after scoring in the 87th minute against Osijek.
The game was scoreless for nearly 90 minutes until Špehar became the hero with his goal.
With Zadar’s loss and Istra’s win, Istra is now in ninth place, two points ahead of last place.
I’m sure he is scum as well. I do know one of his kids married way out of his league.
Ziva,
But your assumption is that all of Todoric’s companies are legit. I’m sure he did some shady things pre and during the war to build his empire…errr monopoly…errr businesses.
@Poglavnik – Wow. I’m not sure where that 2010 came from, but it was indeed meant to say 1950. Thanks for the catch.
If you are business in Cro, why would you want to advertise or have a promotional arrangements with the savez. Everyone in the country knows they are led by idiots and hve no faith in the leadership. Look at what they have done the league. Nobody watches in person or on tv. No sense in spending advertising money on something that doesn’t reach a decent-sized audience. Companies who have products to sell want to be associated with clean and moral characters.
Not only did Suker lose FIFA but add all of Todoric’s companies too! Terrible, awful business moves by Suker. Big blow to the HNS
Oh wow!
That is an old record!
Poglavnice,
They did it in 1950. They’re the 1972 Dolphins.
well done Dinamo, samo naprid
“Dinamo are trying to do what only one team has ever done in the HNL: Finish the season undefeated. The only other team to ever do that? Hajduk Split in 2010.”
Hajduk had 7 draws and 6 losses in ’09-’10, and 7 draws and 7 losses in ’10-’11.
When was Hajduk’s undefeated season again?
Pour one out…..damn ipad
Friends,
After you say prayer before dinnet tonight, poor one out for Suspension Joey as you gather around the dining room table. He lost another legal hearing today.
Poor guy. I feel for him. While I have no doubt he didn’t have any ill will with his comments, it sure appears he is alone in this matter. No teammates offering support, no testimonial, was told not show up for a small goals tournament. Man, nobody has his backs.
In a jist, it’s all because of one man.
Let them go undefeated. That only adds to the talking points about how bad this league really is.
Did you guys catch Zvone Boban’s comments over the weekend. That should answer questions why he doesn’t want to be around the game in Cro. I know some who don’t follow the league and federation that close have asked about Boban in the past. No surprise why he has no interest.
can someone just beat Dinamo once? Please?
you can have your #10 in a row, have the cup too and a easy draw for Europe… I just don’t want Dinamo going undefeated.