Fans made a banner to his memory.
It was a match of cold shivers and heart attacks. Partizan dashed against Čukarički in the 2nd minute. Stanković headed the ball to the goal, but it flew out near the post. 2 minutes later the guests hammered Partizan’s door, but the ball rolled out of the field through the line. The goal-kick led to a great counter-attack, Lazović ran up on the right side and served the ball to Škuletić on a golden plate, but the Montenegrin player headed it into the goalkeeper.
In the 5th minute Čukarički was trying, but Partizan’s defenders blocked the attack. In the 7th minute again Lazović shot the ball to the middle, Škuletić missed it with just one step.
Then in the 10th minute it was 1:0.
Lazović passed the ball to Vulićević, he kicked it ahead to Škuletić. The striker found himself in a "sandwich" made from him and several Čukarički defenders, so he passed it to Pantić. The young midfielder didn’t wait until the grass started to grow under his feet, but shot into the net. 1:0
In the next minute Čukarički got a free kick (after Grbić’s "handball play"), the shot was sent from approx. 25 metres but the wall blocked it. The ball got out to corner, but finally Partizan’s defenders cleared the area.
In the upcoming minutes the game was played mostly in the midfield. The pace was medium, the result was in Partizan’s favour. Čukarički kept on trying to attack, like e.g. in the 14th minute, but despite this Lukač only had some work to do when any of the defenders passed the ball to home. He only had to do some excersise when in the 16th minute he punched the ball out of the penalty area after a corner.
In the meanwhile the atmosphere was great in the southern tribune.
Outside the stadium it looked like this:
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(photo: Facebook/Гробари ЈУГ!!!)
Smoke was so thick that the referee stopped the game around the 20th minute. The field was foggy, players were in tears. They continued after 3-4 minutes.
The next 5 minutes brought some puzzled ball-passing here and there from the guests. They lost the ball many times, passing it too carelessly, yet they kept on kicking Partizan’s players. Finally in the 30th minute they could reach the penalty area of the home team, but even that ended in goal-kick. (Partizan absolutely didn’t mind the result.)
Action-photo: Škuletić in a sandwich of Čukarički defenders
After a situation like this above Partizan got a free kick in the 31st minute, after Škuletić was kicked to the ground by Čukarički’s Nigerian player. The free kick was dropped to corner by the goalkeeper (this was Partizan’s first corner...), then a chaos got formed in front of the guests’ goal. Afterwards Saša Marković was kicked to the ground, right at the penalty area line, but the referee waved "go ahead".
In the 33rd minute Čukarički tried again, but Partizan defenders blocked it, while smoke again got thick around the southern tribune. 3 minutes later Partizan attacked, but it ended as corner. The ball then was shot to goal by Branko Ilić, but it ended again as corner. And again... Finally guest goalkeeper Ristić punched it out of the penalty area.
In the 40th minute Škuletić missed a chance.
Then Čukarički equalized. Stojiljković got a pass from the left and headed it into the net. Defenders were all several steps behind him. 1:1
Two minutes later the guests were leading... Slavoljub Srnić sent a distant shot to Partizan’s home, the ball fell into the net next to Lukač. 1:2
What the...?
No. No. No. It is some fatal mistake.
Reboot. From Pantić’s goal. Right. Now.
In the last minute Partizan missed another chance, then came the half-time.
In the next half Partizan immediately got a free kick, but the ball flew out of the field above the post.
Action-photo: Drinčić with a defender at his back
Partizan played tensely, they definitely, visibly wanted to equalize. In the 49th minute Čukarički got a free kick, but Lukač saved.
Then in the 53rd minute it was equal.
Drinčić shot a free kick to the middle from the right side, from approx. 30-35 metres. Lazović just nodded and the ball dropped into the net. 2:2
(Some rumours say it was actually an own goal by a defender, but we don’t care, for us Lazović is the goal scorer. Period.)
In the 54th minute Čukarički missed a chance. It was this heart attack type of chance, the ball rolled out of the field just missing Partizan’s goal with a few centimetres.
Then in the 56th minute Partizan could have had the lead (after Lazović’s action), but no, because the upon the referee’s assertive point of view it was offside.
In the 58th minute a Partizan free kick left the field through the line, then two minutes later the team again attacked in the again thickening smoke. Čukarički made a lot of mistakes, they lost the ball often, and Partizan started to pressure discreetly but definitely.
In the 63rd minute the guest team tried with a counter-attack. Lukač saved, but when he wanted to kick the ball out, the ball dropped in front of a Čukarički player. Screaming, scratching the floor, heart attack... but Partizan’s golden-handed goalkeeper saved.
Partizan kept on trying ahead, in the 64th minute Lazović’s shot was saved by Ristić. 2 minutes later he had to work again after a home attack. Čukarički had a mentionable attack only in the 67th minute, but even that was after Partizan’s defenders lost the ball.
It was interesting, by the way. For the rest of the match Čukarički could attack only and solely when Partizan lost the ball.
In the 70th minute Drinčić’s free kick just missed the goal with a few centimetres. In the 74th minute it was again Ristić, who saved Čukarički from another Partizan-goal.
And then came the 75th minute... and GOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!! Petar Škuletić, the golden-legged Montenegrin headed such a huge goal that even angels applaused up there who surely watched this match. It was again Drinčić, with a perfect free-kick from the right side. Škuletić arrived just in the right pace and headed it into the net. 3:2!!!
Then he ran out to the Grave Diggers to celebrate
In the 80th minute Čukarički got a free kick, from about 35 metres to the goal line. The player that was about to get the ball made a huge kick - into the thin air. The ball slowly rolled out of the field, goal-kick to Partizan.
Then the one and only mentionable event was when Pantić stepped out of his shoe during action.
Then came the 84th minute and a HUGE, AMAZING, PHENOMENAL GOAL!!!
Scored by Predrag Luka. The midfielder entered the field as substitute about 10 minutes earlier. He tackled a defender who was fumbling in the middle of the field, ran a way with the ball and passed it above the goalkeeper’s head (Ristić could still touch it) into the net. 4:2
FOUR-TWO!!!
After 1:2.
You got it.
Luka shoots...
...then celebrates :)
Then came a more easy-going period, but only to put the average fan into a false serenity, this way making the last minutes as grim as a good horror movie. We were already in the 89th minute, everyone was waiting for the final whistle when the guest team got a free kick. Then someone headed the ball that hit the goalpost with a huge noise, as much that Average Fan almost died from goal, then finally not.
Die from goal. Partizan fans’ primary cause of death.
Even the very last moments kept a pale moment, when a lost ball was grabbed by Čukarički and they made a last attack. The shot again hit Partizan’s goalpost (and heart attack hit Average Fan).
Then it was celebration time
Video highlights:
Factually:
Venue: Partizan Stadion
Number of spectators: 3000
Referee: Marko Popović (linesmen: Oliver Petrović and Milan Mihajlović; substitute referee: Bojan Jovanović; goal referees: Denis Trailović and Dejan Anđelković)
FK Partizan: Lukač - Vulićević, B. Ilić, Stanković, Petrović - Grbić (Luka, 73.), Drinčić, Marković (S. Ilić, 65.), Pantić - Lazović (Fofana, 88.), Škuletić
Head coach: Marko Nikolić
Čukarički: Ristić - Stojković, Piasentin, Ukah, Brežančić - Pavlović (D. Srnić, 59.), Regan (Matić, 81.), Bojić (Mirosavljević, 86.), Todorović, S. Srnić - Stojiljković
Head coach: Vladan Milojević
Goal scorers: Pantić (10.), Stojiljković (40.), S. Srnić (43.), Lazović (53.), Škuletić (75.), Luka (83.)
Yellow card: Vulićević (24.), Stojiljković (34.), Ristić (43.), Ukah (61.), Bojić (72.)
There are no official championship standings yet. Two games are still left from Round 5. As soon as they are finished, I’ll update the post with the fresh standings. (But what is still the most important: WE ARE LEADING THE CHAMPIONSHIP BEING 2 POINTS AHEAD OF THE RED TEAM!!!!!)
(all unmarked photos are from Partizan’s Facebook page)
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