Bessone Thanks the Fans, Mustafić: I Told Jakupović – “Just Go In There and You’ll Score”

 

The White and Blues’ winning streak continues! At Opus Arena, our team defeated Lokomotiva 1-0 thanks to a goal from Arnel Jakupović in the 90th minute. It was Osijek’s third consecutive victory and a perfect record after the first three rounds of the HNL. Osijek dictated the tempo throughout the match and had complete control of the game. Against a deeply positioned Lokomotiva side, the team searched for a way through until the very end, with the White and Blues’ dominance best reflected by their 27 shots at the opposition goal. Their persistence was rewarded in the 90th minute, when Jakupović headed home to spark huge celebrations at Opus Arena. The excellent atmosphere followed the team throughout the evening, and the fans left the stadium satisfied with another victory.

Bessone: “A Big Thank You to the Fans”

Head coach Federico Bessone first expressed his satisfaction with his team’s performance after the match and thanked the fans for their support:

Honestly, I am very happy! Especially for the players and the way we played this match in front of our fans. I want to say a very, very big thank you to them! We felt from the first minute to the last that we were going to score a late goal.

Bessone emphasised that his team had control throughout the match and was also ready to respond to any potential changes in Lokomotiva’s system.

We knew they could change their formation during the game, but our boys were ready for that as well. We had a good, high press, we could have scored earlier, but in the end everything worked out well for us.

Caution Despite the Winning Streak

The Argentine coach stressed that the team still has room for improvement, but he made no secret of his satisfaction with the performance against a quality opponent who arrived in Osijek in good form:

It wasn’t easy for us, they were sitting in quite a low block. But we managed to be better than a good team like Lokomotiva. We kept them deep in their own half and dominated the entire match.

Three matches and three victories are certainly a reason for satisfaction, but Bessone remains firmly grounded and emphasises the importance of continuing to work:

Now we can enjoy it because we have three matches and three wins, which makes me very happy and proud. But we have to continue working like this and we will see what happens at the end of the season.

The White and Blues are already turning their attention to the next challenge – an away match against Hajduk.

It will be difficult, everyone knows that Hajduk are an excellent team. We will have to prepare very well if we want to achieve something there as well. I am looking forward to the atmosphere we have and to another match. I am sure it will be a good one.

Mustafić: “I Told Jakupović – Just Go In There and You’ll Score”

Senad Mustafić also put in an impressive performance against Lokomotiva, hitting the post during the match. After the final whistle, he recalled an interesting detail that preceded the winning goal:

It was truly incredible the way we played tonight, so I have a great feeling, we are all very happy. We tried a lot of things and had a huge number of shots, but we couldn’t score until the 90th minute. During the match, I told Jakupović that whenever I had the ball, he should just go in there and that he would score. And that’s exactly what happened – although I didn’t provide the assist myself, he scored and it was a really wonderful moment.

Mustafić also singled out the support from the stands at Opus Arena, where he played in front of the home fans for the first time:

Today was the first time I played in front of our fans at our stadium, and I want to thank them all. I hope they will continue to support us like this and that many of them will come to the match against Hajduk in Split as well. We will fight there too and give our maximum.