Osijek delivered on what they had announced and won value points, deservingly so.
Osijek celebrated against Rijeka and made a comeback to the third spot. It’s quite literally the most important moment post-Saturday, when 3,125 spectators came to Gradski Vrt. It’s safe to say that an intriguing match was played, which is, among other things, to be expected, for the quality of both teams guarantees it.
The beginning of the match was marked by many things that, as the match evolved, resulted in glorious scores. In minute 6, Grezda forced Župarić to perform a foul, because of which the away team’s back player earned himself an exclusion from play. Our striker was stopped as he tried to score, when the Albanian national player eluded him and was on his way towards Sluga.
It Could’ve been More Convincing
Surely it had to be disruptive to Rijeka and be beneficial to the home team in order to score the points easier. Much should’ve been done, too, during the first half, considering the chances that were missed out on by Lopa, Grezda, Lopa again and, last but not least, Mioč. Those attempts were supposed to be sure goal, especially because Zekić brought another attacker, Marić, into the offense.
It is more often than not that, up until the 60th minute, the match is swaying from one side’s favor to the other one’s, where achieving the advantage is important to reduce anxiety in the third act. Osijek succeeded on 2 occasions – in minutes 49 and 56, when strikers Grgić and Hajradinović scored, the latter via penalty shot, after Raspopović’s taking down Boban as Boban entered the guest’s penalty area. I was sure at that time that Osijek will earn the points in the El Classico and that the advantage of 2 goals is sure.
A Return to Form for Gradski Vrt’s Ambient
To be fair, Rijeka did make the match more uncertain during the third act as Pavičić, who was motivated beyond belief to sink the ball in Osijek’s net (as he did when he played for Dinamo), bested Malenica and scored for 1-2. More than that couldn’t be done and the away team had to leave the field defeated for the third time vs. Osijek.
We are yet again above Rijeka on the ladder with an advantage of one point and it’s obvious that that battle, including against Hajduk, will be very interesting, with the presumption that uncertainty will be high until the end of the Championship. These are surely important points and mark a return to form for Gradski Vrt’s positive energy on the tribunes. Concerning Zekić’s chosen, effort will be exerted for all future showings.
