MaxTV Prva Liga Week 27

Results for March 21 – 23, 2014

HNK HAJDUK SPLIT 0 – 2 GNK DINAMO ZAGREB

Dinamo Zagreb has once again proven that they will remain on top of the league table by gaining three more points in a victory over Hajduk Split on Saturday afternoon.

Victory has almost become routine at this point for Dinamo, who haven’t lost a match since October.

In front of 25,000 fans at Poljud in Split, the teams fought for the for the upper hand early in the match but Dinamo was quickly awarded a penalty shot after Goran Milović played the ball with his hand in the box.

Duje Čop took the opportunity to score his 16th goal of the season and put his club in the lead in this season’s second installment of the Eternal Derby.

Igor Tudor’s Hajduk Split had no answer to Dinamo’s offensive pressure.

They created very few chances throughout the match, and Dinamo was easily able to put a stop to any and all offensive threats, leaving goalkeeper Antonio Ježina very bored for 90 minutes.

Alen Halilović was given a few minutes of play at the end of the match, and he made sure to make the best of every second.

Entering the game in the 91st minute, Halilović received the ball that was cleared from Dinamo’s penalty area.

Halilović sprinted the entire length of the field, completely uncontested, and easily tapped the ball into an empty net to finish the match with a two-goal lead.

With an 11-point lead in the league standings, Dinamo have certainly clinched another championship, and have booked their ticket to the UEFA Champions League, but the excitement still lies in the race for second place. With the loss, Hajduk is now in third place, leaving second place in the hands of HNK Rijeka.

Dinamo’s victory on the field was somewhat overshadowed by the antics of their sporting director, Zdravko Mamić.

Mamić confronted fans in the stands and exchanged insults with Hajduk board member, Ljubo Pavašović Visković, which turned into a physical confrontation.

Mamić was eventually escorted from the stands by police, and referred to Poljud as a “concentration camp” in a press conference he held on Sunday.

“This is the fourth time I was attacked in Split. When I come to Poljud it’s like going to a concentration camp,” Mamić said.

The incident coincides with rumors stating several former Dinamo players are joining together to oust Mamić from Dinamo. In his press conference, Mamić stated that he will “never leave Dinamo” unless authorities make the club private, which he “doubts” will ever happen.

During Mamić’s press conference, another press conference was taking place featuring Dinamo legends, Dario Šimić, Igor Biščan, Tomo Sokota and Silvio Marić.

“We feel a moral responsibility to Dinamo and that’s why we’re here,” Šimić said. “We want to return the fans to the bleachers, we want club operations to be public and transparent and return Dinamo back to a gentleman’s club. In order to make the necessary changes, we will do this on the principle of ‘one member, one vote.”

Simic also stated that there are many other former Dinamo players who are backing them on this initiative, with one of them possibly being Zvonimir Boban.

NK SLAVEN BELUPO 0 – 3 HNK RIJEKA

The woes continue for Slaven Belupo, but fortunately for Rijeka, they could take advantage of Slaven’s misfortune, and seal three points that put them in second place.

Slaven was hoping for a big win in front of their home crowd, and for a moment, looked feasible.

The Pharmacists outplayed their opponents in the first have, creating several quality chances to score, but were unable to finish thanks to the reaction and skill or Rijeka keeper, Ivan Vargić.

Vargić was instrumental in helping Rijeka keep pace with Slaven, making several key saves in the first half.

But on the other side of the pitch, Tomislav Pelin played an impressive first half as well, making big saves to keep the game scoreless.

Pelin had little to do until late in the first half where Rijeka turned up their offensive pressure.

But mistakes in the penalty area cost the Pharmacists in a big way.

A foul committed on Rijeka newcomer, Goodness Ohiremen Ajayi, immediately led to a penalty shot that Ivan Krstanović easily converted for the first goal of the game.

Soon after, Slaven was awarded a chance to tie the match with a penalty kick of their own, but Dario Čanadija blasted the opportunity over the crossbar.

Ivan Močinić scored an insurance goal in the 80th minute to take a two goal lead, and a few minutes later, Andrej Kramarić scored his 15th goal of the season when he converted a penalty kick into a 3-0 victory for Rijeka.

Rijeka should be pleased with the win that put them two points ahead of Hajduk in the standings, but Slaven is dangerously close to the relegation zone, and should start to worry about whether they will see first division play next season.

Slaven has not won a match since October, and face a tough road ahead, facing Dinamo at Maksimir before welcoming RNK Split one week later.

NK LOKOMOTIVA 0 – 0 RNK SPLIT

While the big clubs were busy in the Eternal Derby, the mali derby was played at Maksimir featuring Lokomotiva and Split.

Goalkeepers Oliver Želenica and Danijel Zagorac both had clean sheets in the scoreless draw that kept the two clubs very close on the league table.

Split is ahead of the Lokosi by one point, but the race is still on to see if either of them can reach third place and solidify a spot int eh UEFA Europa League.

NK ISTRA 1961 0 – 2 NK ZADAR

NK Zadar pulled off an impressive win in Pula this weekend, upsetting Istra 2-0.

Domagoj Muić got the scoring started late in the first half with his first goal of the season.

Josip Ivančić followed up late in the second half with the game’s second goal to give Zadar a two-goal victory over Istra.

Zadar has been chasing Istra in the league standings almost the entire season, and now sit only four points behind.

NK HRVATSKI DRAGOVOLJAC 2 – 0 NK OSIJEK

Dragovoljac came out victorious in what was probably thier most important game of the season.

The Volunteers have been in last place nearly all season, and have been trying to pass up Osijek, who have been one spot a head of them for months.

The two teams finally met and the Volunteers took advantage of the situation.

Two goals by Filip Jažvić were more than enough for The Volunteers to finally jump out of 10th place and into ninth, where the are now only two points behind Slaven Belupo, who sit in eighth place.

The win may prove invaluable for the club to remain in the top division next season.