Review: Serbia – 2013/14 SuperLiga – 26° Matchday – FK Partizan vs FK Crvena Zvezda

Last Sathurday, at Partizan Stadium of Belgrade, the famous Derby between FK Partizan and FK Crvena Zvezda, better known as ”Red Star“, has been played: this match is also called “The Eternal Derby” because is one of the hottest in the world, and there’s a strong rivalry between the fans, that would consider this match very important even if it was a training match played in Iceland.

Moreover this year the game was the fifth last matchday of the Season, and, as usual, being the Serbian SuperLiga a two horse race, it was very important to determine the winner of the Championship, and that made this Derby even more important.
FK Partizan has dominated the local Championship for years, because it has won six Tiles in a row (from 2008 to 2013), and this Season has been quite good too, because they have won 17 of 25 matches so far, but Red Star, after a not very good start, from Novembre 2, 2013 (the day they won 1-0 at home the first Derby of the Season), won 15 games in a row, a winning streak that gave them a six point lead on Partizan before the second Derby: a win or a draw would have practically given the Title to them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXQMbDRT9EM
In this video you can see the peaceful choreo made by Red Star’s supporters.

The match, that was played in front of 30.000 spectators who filled an almost sold out Partizan Stadium, could have been quite easy for Red Star, because at 24′ they were awarded a penalty kick, but Milos Ninkovic, a former Dynamo Kyiv offensive midfielder, had his shoot saved by Partizan goalkeeper, Milan Lukac: there’s an unwritten rule in football that say that, after you have missed a very good chance to score, you have to concede a goal, and that happened three minutes later, when the midfielder Nikola Drincic scored a free-kick, giving Partizan the lead.
At 33′, 6 minutes after Partizan goal, Red Star was awarded another (clear) penalty kick: this time the left back Nikola Mijailovic was on the spot, but the result was the same: Milan Lukac saved it again, and confirmed himself as the main protagonist of the match.
After Half Time, Red Star didn’t despond and at 56′ equalized with Dragan Mrdja, the team topscorer (18 goals in 25 matches in the Season), who last Summer come back to the club that had launched him, after playing abroad in Belgium (SK Lierse), Russia (FK Khimki) and Switzerland (FC Sion): he was good to get a ball that Partizan defence hadn’t cleared properly and to score with a nice shot.
Red Star, that would have enjoed a draw as well, tried to control the game until the end, and conceded to the opponents “just” a post and a dangerous counterattack, but at 90′ a nice shot to the low corner of the goal from the substitute Nemanja Kojic, surprised a not very reactive Boban Bajkovic (Red Star GK), and gave Partizan the lead again and made black-and-white supporters very happy; anyway in the added time Red Star missed a chance to equalize.
Nemanja Kojic’s goal reopened the Championship, and led FK Partizan just three points behind FK Crvena Zvezda, that probably have so many regrets, and during the next four matchdays will have not to be demoralized by the psychological effect that this defeat could have generated !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_EoPhudRi0

FK PARTIZAN - FK CRVENA ZVEZDA 2-1
27′ Nikola Drncic, 90′ Nemanja Kojic – 56′ Dragan Mrdja.
Attendance: 30.000.