After a short hiatus due to power and internet outages caused by a storm that shall not be named, HNL report is back, bringing you the excitement you inevitably missed.
Dinamo Zagreb coach Mario Cvitanović was assaulted outside his apartment last week by two unknown assailants. The assault came only weeks after an attempt on Zdravko Mamić’s life, who was also assaulted several weeks prior to that.
NK Rudeš secured their first win of the season against NK Istra 1961 on September 17. The 1-0 win was nine weeks in the making, leaving Rudes the last team to gain their first win of the season.
Osijek are within one point of Hajduk Split after defeating them 2-1 on September 9, but struggled away to NK Rudes this Monday afternoon, drawing 1-1 at Kranjčevićeva.
Rijeka are continuing their chase of Dinamo who remain on top of the table A 7-0 humping of Cibalia two weeks ago struck fear in all teams around the league, followed by a 2-0 away win at Poljud helped them keep pace with the Modri.
This week’s match week seemed like the big teams of Croatia agreed to take the week off, as little has changes on the league table.
The match week kicked off with a 2-1 win for Inter Zaprešić away in Vinkovci. Two goals from Tomislav Šarić tied the match and then won the match for Inter after them gave up a 21st minute goal to Cibalia.
Rijeka attempted to continue their winning ways in Koprivnica, but fell flat to Slaven with a 1-1 draw. Vinko Međimorec countered a goal from Rijeka’s Heber to end the match all square.
This would have been a prime opportunity for Dinamo to increase the lead at the top, but their trip to Aldo Drosina in Pula resulted in a match lacking any goals. The 0-0 draw left Dinamo four points clear at the top. This was the first time Dinamo was held scoreless since their 2-0 loss to Hajduk on April 22.
With points dropped by Dinamo and Rijeka, Hajduk Split looked forward to closing the gap between the top three, but had points stolen from them at the last second by NK Lokomotiva. Ivan Krstanović’s return to Croatia saw him score a goal for the Lokosi in the 66th minute to give his side the lead, but Hugo Almeida tied the match only seven minutes later. Almeida doubled his tally with what was thought to be the 90th minute game winner, but Luka Capan tied the match at two in the dying seconds of added time. Fans at Poljud reportedly hurled insults at Hajduk players in disgust at their draw.
With the top three teams suffering disappointing draws, NK Osijek did not want to feel left out and found a way to end their match at against NK Rudeš with a score of 1-1. Trailing the bulk of the match, Alan Grgić tied the match, but was unable to break the deadlock despite massive pressure supplied by the visiting team.
dam, I’ve been to clearwater before. all the best
@Idemo – Florida, buddy! St. Petersburg. Caught the back end of Irma and was living in the 1800s for a little while.
Colin you were in Mexico? PR?
Welcome back Colin! Glad you and the family made it out okay.
Hopefully Cvitanovic is doing well. This is an embarrassment. These type of things constantly happening but no one is ever apprehended and prosecuted.