Dinamo Zagreb took on a tough but battered NK Lokomotiva at Kranjčevićeva on Friday and came out with a close 2-1 win.
The Zagreb Derby began with Dinamo dominating in possession as well as scoring chances, but the stingy defense of Lokomotiva kept the Dinamo attack in check but showed little offense of their own.
The Lokosi attack relied heavily on the counter attack, but they had very little opportunity to push forward and had trouble controlling the ball.
Lokomotiva was also without their top scorer, Jan Doležal, due to injury. Doležal has scored five goals in his 20 appearances for the club this season.
But despite the offensive efforts of Dinamo, the first half ended 0-0.
Dinamo came out int he second half even more determined to find the first goal, which was finally scored by El Abri Hillel Soudani.
The Algerian international scored his 10th goal of the season to put his team in the lead in the 54th minute.
Angelo Henriquez nearly doubled the lead only five minutes later, but just missed the nearly-empty net with his chance on goal. The striker was visibly upset with himself, but did not allow the frustration to cloud his play on the field.
Despite the missed opportunity, Henriquez scored what would turn out to be the game winner in the 68th minute.
Henriquez found himself unmarked in front of the goal leaving Soudani no choice but to send him the ball to score the second goal in the game.
The two-goal deficit forced Lokomotiva to open play un and focus more on pushing forward rather than preventing goals.
And the Lokosi push for offense paid off with a goal in the 77th minute when former Dinamo standout, Ante Rukavina, found himself one-on-one with Dinamo goalkeeper, Eduardo, and selflessly fed the ball to Šime Gržan who easily put the ball in the net.
The lone goal was not enough thought and the contest ended in Dinamo’s favor, taking all three points to add to their already insurmountable lead at the top of the table.
Licenses for next years competition were awarded this week and both Dinamo Zagreb and NK Lokomotiva have been given permission to compete in both the Croatian First League as well as UEFA competitions.
NK Lokomotiva also were just recently acquired some financial help from a new large corporate sponsor.
Crodux Derivatives, who run many gas stations among other institutions throughout Croatia, have signed on as primary sponsors through may 2018. The sponsorship’s goal is to help Lokomotiva obtain their goal of competing in the UEFA Europa League next season as well as adding infrastructure and maintaining their youth teams and training facilities.
HNK Hajduk Split faced off with HNK Rijeka on Saturday at Poljud but their massive club struggles continued and they found themselves on the losing end of the Jadranski Derbi with a score of 2-1.
Hajduk Split is making history with their struggles and there is no relief in sight.
The Bili have never in the history of the Croatian First League lost four league matches in a row, but that is precisely what happened after their loss against Rijeka on Saturday.
Hajduk is also on pace to break the club record of most losses in a season with was set in the 2005/06 season with 12 losses. Hajduk has lost 11 matches so far this season.
The contest against Rijeka was coach Goran Vučević’s first match at the help of the team.
He seemed to start the match off well when the young Fran Tudor scored the opening goal of the game on his debut with Hajduk, but Hajduk reverted right back to old habits by giving up late goals and dropping unnecessary points.
With Hajduk in the lead in the 80th minute, Rijeka turned up the intensity and tied the match thanks to a goal from Ivan Tomečak.
But a draw was not enough for the next great club in Croatian competition. Rijeka were able to dig deep and scored a second goal only two minutes later to alter the scoreline to 2-1.
Marko Vešović was the hero by scoring the late goal to take all three points and handing Hajduk their fourth consecutive league loss as well as Hajduk’s tenth consecutive match without defeating Rijeka.
Hajduk last defeated Rijeka in the Prva Liga on March 31, 2012.
But there is a silver lining in the woes plaguing Hajduk; much of their trouble has stemmed from a depletion in the first team due to injuries or suspensions.
Hajduk was missing their starting goalkeeper Lovre Kalinić and backup goalkeeper, Dante Stipica, forcing the team to go with the 19-year-old unexperienced goalkeeper, Ivo Grbić, who has spent this season with Hajduk Split II in the Croatian Third League.
Despite his inexperience, he showed much promise in the form of his athleticism, game management, and thunderous goal kicks and punts. Grbić has the opportunity and the ability to prove himself as a team asset in the future.
Hajduk was also without midfielders, Andrija Balić, Tino-Sven Šušić, as well as defenders, Mario Maloča and Avdija Vrsajević.
Both Hajduk Split and Rijeka were awarded first class licenses to compete in both the HNL and UEFA competitions.
NK Istra 1961 and RNK Split played to a 1-1 draw in Pula to split the points, but the two clubs have much bigger challenges ahead of them.
Sokol Cikalleshi scored in the 29th minute to put Split in the lead, but Istra was able to hang on and salvage a point in their quest not to get relegated when Dejan Radonjić calmly scored from the penalty spot to keep hope alive for his team.
But even with that glimmer of hope, both clubs have much to worry about as neither of them were able to obtain a first class license to compete in the HNL next season, mostly due to stadium infrastructure.
Istra was also denied any license to play in UEFA competitions due to their lack of a woman’s team with is required for UEFA competitions, but not required to participate in the HNL.
One thing Istra can do is add a ticket counter to their stadium, Aldo Drosina, in hopes for their appeal to work in their favor within the next month.
Split will have to make minor improvements to their stadium as well to secure a license within the next month.
Despite the current troubles, Split was able to take time and celebrate their 103rd birthday this week.
The club recognized that this is the most successful generation of RNK Split in the history of the team.
The team also vowed to continue its success streak and presumambly compete in the 1.HNL next season.
In honor of the club, here is one of CroatianSports.com exclusive videos done by the great and talented Bramimir Kvartuč investigating who the fans of Split are:
Osijek and Zadar played an exciting match, but Zadar was unable to hang on in the last minute and conceded a goal Osijek in the 90th minute.
Both clubs are fighting against relegation and are now tied on points for the last-place spot on the table.
But neither club was able to obtain a first class license and will be fighting the HNS for one as well as fighting relegation until the end of the season.
Slaven Belupo and NK Zagreb played a sloppy match on Sunday, but the Pharmacists were able to scrounge out a a 2-1 victory thanks to an own goal from Zagreb’s Denis Kolinger in the 83rd minute.
Full video highlights: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=815260698527434
About the same odds of finding diaspora hrvati who can speak properly
actually i know of one, that used to live in oklahoma, but has moved to LA.
Dinamo looking to add central defenders Emir Spahic and Gordon Schildenfeld for next season.
What’s the chances of finding a black woman who speaks Croatian in Oklahoma?
Oh no bobby you’re gonna get a guy started on here about Africans migrating to Europe… Damn it way to go
So much for Igor (the Croatian Jose Mourinho) Simac saving Zadar from relegation – ah fuck.
On another note, Lisa Nemec, an American born marathon runner who is representing Croatia, was actually in the early lead in today’s Boston Marathon.
in the end, Kenya’s Caroline Rotich won the race. A Black Croatian woman – who would have thought? – haha