Sunday 24 October 2010

HNL1 ROUND 12

CIBALIA 2 HAJDUK 1 (Prgomet, Bartolovic/ Vukusic)
DINAMO 1 SIBENIK 0 (Tomecak)
VARAZDIN 2 ISTRA PULA 1 (Dudic, Pauletic O.G/ Linic)
RIJEKA 1 OSIJEK 5 (Strok/ Milicevic, Smoje, Nikisic, Sorsa, Skoric)
KARLOVAC 1 LOKOMOTIVA 2 (Primorac/ Sopic, Bule)
SPLIT 1 ZAPRESIC 1 (Vidic/ Matko)
DRAGOVOLJAC 1 ZADAR 4 (Leko/ Santini, Banovic, Mrsic, Curjuric)
BELUPO 1 ZAGREB 2 (Milardovic/ Pavlovic, Dedic)

Hajduk Split slipped up 2-1 Cibalia, to give Dinamo Zagreb the chance to extend their lead at the top. The Croatian Champions duely defeated Sibenik 1-0 thanks to Ivan Tomecak's goal to go four points clear. RNK Split stay third after a 1-1 draw with in form Inter Zapresic. Cibalia's win over Hajduk moves them up to fourth with Kresimir Prgomet and former Hajduk man Mladen Bartolovic netting the goals.

Varazdin who are in danger of losing star man Josip Brezovec on a free transfer due to unpaid wages, are 5th after beating Istra Pula 2-1. Brezovec was given praise by both coaches for playing an influential role. Sinisa Linic scored his first goal for Pula. Zagreb jumped ahead of Rijeka into 6th after beat out of form Slaven Belupo 2-1. Belupo are sliding dangerous towards the relegation zone, where Zadar and Lokomotiva are showing plenty of fight. Zadar beat Dragovoljac 4-1, whilst Lokomotiva recorded a impressive 2-1 away victory over Karlovac. The common opinion is Loko are only in a temporary blip due to player injuries, however whilst goalscorers Nino Bule and Zjelko Sopic continue to perform the team has a chance.

Sibenik have also been improving, so above Istra Pula and Dragovoljac who are stranded their is expected to be a severe fight for survival. The capabilities of the 14th placed teams upwards would suggest the league is largely evenly matched exempting the bottom two and Dinamo Zagreb. If HNS were to study the league they would see that their our 14 teams capable of competing well in the countries top flight.

Saturday 16 October 2010

HNL1 ROUND 11

SIBENIK 3 SPLIT 0
LOKOMOTIVA 1 VARAZDIN 2
OSIJEK 1 DINAMO 3
HAJDUK 1 BELUPO 0
CIBALIA 3 DRAGOVOLJAC 0
ISTRA 0 RIJEKA 0
ZAGREB 1 KARLOVAC 2
ZAPRESIC 1 ZADAR 0

Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split moved clear of RNK Split at the top of the table after both claimed wins over Osijek and Slaven Belupo respectively. Dinamo beat Osijek 3-1 despite going behind to Vedran Nikisic's goal. Milan Badelj, Sammir and Fatos Beciraj who is starting to proving himself a decent goalscorer got Dinamo the full three points. Dinamo surprisingly played with two holding midfielders, with Mathias Chago having found himself a spot in the team. Over recent weeks Vahid Halilhodzic seems to have stopped rotating and has decided on an 11. Tomislav Barbaric, Luis Ibanez and Adrian Callelo have not regularly been in the frame, but its likely they are still part of the clubs plans. Dodo and Miroslav Slepicka seemed to have little future with the club.

Hajduk's 1-0 win over Slaven Belupo came via Ante Vukusic. This is his 12th goal in 16 games in all competitions. At this stage it is hard to pass judgement on whether this 19 year old will be a future Croatian player. However he has surprised many this season and is starting to fill the boots of the Nikola Kalinic, who was sold to Blackburn Rovers over a year ago. Rijeka stay fourth after a disappointing goalless draw with winless Istra Pula.

Cibalia moved up to 5th with a comfortable 3-0 win over Dragovoljac. Dino Kresinger, Kreso Prgomet and Mladen Bartolovic were on target. Varazdin claimed yet another great win defeating Lokomotiva away from home 2-1. The reliable Nino Bule struck for Lokomotiva, however Varazdin through Filip Svorc into the action who netted twice to turn the game in Varazdin's favour. Lokomotiva have dropped into the relegation zone and our counting the cost of injuries to key players. Bagaric, Sivonjic, Hajovic, Simic and Antolic are currently all laid low.

Whilst Lokomotiva struggle, Dinamo's former feeder club Zapresic have come to life with an series of 1-0 victories. This time recording a crucial win over strugglers Zadar thanks to Antun Palic's penalty. Zapresic are now free of the relegation zone and looking further up the table. The arrival of Matija Matko and the return of Mario Grgurovic has worked wonders for Zapresic. Aleksandr Trajkovski has also added competition up front after he was finally registered.

There also appears light at the end of the tunnel for Sibenik who demolished HNL1 team of the season so far RNK Split 3-0. The club is starting to get their best players fit again. Marko Kartelo and two goals from Drazen Jelic made the difference. With Sibenik and Zapresic showing fight, Zadar, Osijek and Lokomotiva need to raise their game. Zagreb are also slipping in the wrong direction, who were defeated by improving Karlovac 2-1. Neither side will be overly concerned at this stage.

Sunday 3 October 2010

HNL1 ROUND 10

RNK Split continued their super form with yet another 1-0 win, this time defeating NK Osijek thanks to a late goal by Bojan Golubovic. Its safe to say the HNL1 newcomers will not be returning to the lower levels of Croatian football any time soon. Sports Director Nenad Pralija and coach Ivan Katilinic are responsible for excellation preparation on the team prior to the season.

Rijeka moved back into fourth with a fine 3-0 win over Lokomotiva. In response Loko's coach Roy Ferencina left his post which could destabilise the club. The team need to get back to winning ways as soon as possible. The teams disappointing results seem to have coincided with injuries to Tomislav Martinac, Nino Bule and Zjelko Sopic, whilst loan signing Ilija Sivonjic has not had the desire effect. Rijeka's goals came through Ivan Rodic, Kristjian Caval and Damir Kreilach. Zagreb and Varazdin played out a goalless draw so stay safely positioned in 5th and 7th respectively.

Slaven Belupo and Cibalia are played a predictable 1-1 draw with both sides evenly matched this season. Mladen Bartolovic opened the scoring for Cibalia before Stjepan Poljak came off the bench to equalise. Down at the lower end of the table Sibenik picked up a crucial 4-1 win over Zadar which brings them back amongst the living, just one point from there opponents and two points from fifth bottom Lokomotiva. Two goals from Mehmed Alispahic, one from Daniel Georgievski and a strike from sub Drazen Jelic cancelled out Ivan Santini's opener for Zadar, who later had Igor Banovic red carded.

Sibenik's victory worsened the plight of Hrvatski Dragovoljac who are still winless. Dragovoljac drew 0-0 with in form Inter Zapresic.