Despite putting in more effort into play and chances, Osijek didn’t earn a single point, having been on the receiving end of a quite unusual goal.
If there’s an undeserved loss suffered by Osijek this season, it has to be the one in Zaprešić. On one hand, better team lost despite their having been more agile, dangerous and chance-creating, but the opportunities remained unused. On the other hand, Inter won via a self-goal by Šimunec during extra time, where only one serious threat was posed to Malenica earlier in the game. Coach Zoran Zekić said the following during the press conference:
˝Not once have I lost a game with the opposing team never having scored a single goal! Nevertheless, they didn’t even have to since we ourselves did it for them. I can’t say that my boys haven’t tried because they were the better team for most of the game with 3 to 4 good chances and quite a few promising ones. If it simply boils down to bad luck, an unfortunate consequence or even karma is up to debate. However, we gave our best for the better part of the match, bringing the heat with the odd misplay, while individuals like Barišić and Grezda played while injured.˝
A Cardinal Misplay
It was truly a strange situation in which Osijek capitulated because the Zaprešić players had been on their knees, but the ball finally ended up in Osijek’s own net.
˝I don’t know what to say, honestly. That high ball travelled towards our goal for a long time and it’s hard to tell what happened to Šimunec for him to have reacted in such a strange way. I don’t know if he heard Malenica, who went for the ball, or if he heard him too little too late, but in the last moments, you never return the ball towards your own goal, but you shoot it in the opposite direction as hard as possible, maybe even kick it out of play. Nevertheless, some things happen by chance. ˝
The Issues Are Known for a Long Time Now
It’s Osijek’s 3rd defeat in a row, with the same exact outcome in terms of score and on Wednesday, Cibalia plays Osijek and we’ll see how that goes.
˝We have lost 3 times now 1-0, which is worrisome. I hope that we’ll be more focused both in the backline and the frontline so we can finally win. Due to many injuries and suspensions, we’re forced to restructure our squad, but we need to finish the season in as good a way as possible. I had recognized our issues a long time ago and we’ll see how much we manage to solve in the coming period, ˝ said Zekić.
Lady Luck Smiled Upon Inter
Inter’s skipper Samir Toplak commented on his team’s match where they defeated Osijek for the second time this season:
˝First of all, I want to stress that we really won due to luck. To score such a goal is pure luck to us, misfortune for the opponents, but that’s football. In the first half, we were at a loss, which is usual for us as if we needed 30 more minutes to warm up prior to the match. We didn’t have energy, Osijek was better in creating chances, while the rest of the game started seeing us playing better. The match result gravitated towards a tie, even a win for the away team, but in the end, we scored all 3 points and I congratulate my squad for it,˝ said Toplak.
