WE QUALIFIED TO THE NEXT ROUND!!!
My God, what a game it was.
It contained everything that's needed for a great match. Drama, tension, death and resurrection.
There was an unbelievable full house in ul. Humska, so full that even the otherwise always locked northern tribune was open this time. And even that was full.
30 minutes to go and the stadium is already full
(photo: Twitter)
(screenshot)
(photo: Twitter)
Nikola Peković was also present, whom fans call "Pekmen".
(photo: Twitter)
And there was someone else, too, who got a very warm welcome by fans.
Yes, it was Milan "Maki" Mačvan personally
(photo: mozzartsport.com)
Teams walked out to the pitch for a warming-up.
(photo: Twitter)
(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)
The referee was István Vad from Hungary.
(screenshot)
Who was this funny guy at UEFA who thought a Hungarian (!) should be the referee at a match between a Serbian (!!!!) and a Romanian (!!!!!!!!!!) team? Who was this perverted, crazy idiot?
By the way, big congratulations to István Vad for his job at this not so easy game. He was stern, impartial (!) and consistent. And the most important is that he was invisible.
Dear Mr. Referee, keep up this great job!
The full stands were watered from water-cannons against heat and heat-stroke.
The match started with a moment of silence for the memory of the victims of Operation Storm 20 years ago.
(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)
Then the match started. The Grave Diggers of the southern tribune performed an amazing coreography.
(photo: Twitter)
(photo: Twitter)
(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)
(photo: Twitter)
(photo: Twitter)
(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)
We attacked in the 2nd minute, the answer was a Romanian counter-attack. It was dangerous, not much would have been needed for a goal, but finally it ended as a corner.
In the 4th minute we were back again at Steaua's penalty area. Babović’s pass ended in a corner. There was a goalmouth scramble, then the ball dropped in front of Andrija Živković. From him it got to Balažic. He shot - the goalkeeper saved, but only 1-2 millimetres from the goal line.
Then in the 8th minute Vulićević ran up with the ball on the right and passed it to the middle. The ball hit the defenders and dropped in front of Babović. Babović wasted no time, he shot and scored a giant goal, right into the middle of the net.
1:0
1:0!!!
WE ARE LEADING!!!!
(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)
I have scolded Babović earlier quite a few times on this blog. You can decide yourself whether I was right or wrong. But it is a fact that on this match Babović played very well - independent of this goal or not. He ran a lot, passed a lot, dribbled, he was even there when building up attacks. Keep it up, Babinjo! We want more of this.
But the sad fact is that the fans’ happy screaming after the goal hasn’t faded away when Steaua equalized. They ran up on the right, passing the ball into the middle. A Partizan-defender headed it out, and the ball dropped in front of Muniru. The Ghanian player shot and scored. 1:1, cold shower, the bitter type.
Oh, well. Nothing is lost yet. In the 18th minute Aboubakar shot from 25 metres, but missed. Two minutes later he passed to Vulićević on the right side. Vulićević then passed it to Babović to the middle. Babović shot with a bicycle kick. Pity it was too wide, it could have been a spectacular goal.
The thing is, Romanian players weren’t so technically skilled, but they were very fast and made counter-attacks in a moment. They were also very aggressive, kicking and pulling Partizan-players to the ground. Despite this they got a free kick in the 25th minute, 22 metres from the goal line. Chipciu stood behind the ball, but his shot flew out above the crossbar.
A minute later Aboubakar got the ball. He passed it to the middle, but the Romanian defenders caught it and kicked it to their midfielders for a counter-attack. Tade got the pass at the corner of the penalty area. He shot, Živko Živković touched it, the ball hit the goalpost. Corner kick. Then another corner kick that flew out, far from the goal line. Goal-kick, for us.
In the 29th minute Steaua got another free kick, about 30 metres from the goal line, on the right side. The kick was headed to the goal line by Varela, but it was too hight.
In the 31st minute Vulićević got the ball and ran up immediately to the Romanian penalty area, but his pass was caught by the goalkeeper. A minute later Fabricio lost the ball. Hamroun grabbed it, ran up on the right side and passed to the middle. For our luck the attackers in the middle were too slow to kick or head it.
Then in the 33rd minute Romanians took the lead. Popa arrived on the right with the ball and passed it to the middle, where Hamroun was waiting. The French player got it, thanked and shot it into our net. 1:2
Collapse. Death. No, just no. I can’t believe it. There is always an icy hand around your heart when such a thing happens, then it slowly turns into anger. Average Fan made it through the entire scale of political incorrectness within a short period of time. In hindsight I feel ashamed; for my defense, in the heat of the match common sense has waved me goodbye quite early and travelled to the Bahamas, probably.
In the 38th minute we got a free kick, about 30 metres from the goal line, on the left. Babović stood behind the ball, he kicked..
...and scored!!! GOOOAAAAAL!!!!
No way. It was never a goal. At the moment of the kick the assistant waved offside. Bojinov got stuck in the front lines. The referee invalidated the goal. There was not even a chance to question it, the slow motion replay clearly showed the offside.
In the 42nd minute Romanians attacked again. Tade kicked it in from the left side, but thankfully the others were too slow for it. We immediately started a counter-attack. Aboubakar got the ball from Babović, but the goalkeeper ended their attempt.
Brašanac some time during the match against Brazilian player Guilherme
(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)
In the beginning of the second half the referee showed the red card to Varela in the 48th minute. The Cape Verde player pulled Brašanac to the ground, who was running up to the goal line. Foul as last person, plus inside the penalty area.
In the second half István Vad left his mild-tempered attitude in the locker-room and used a stern approach towards the rough Romanian players, who sometimes used acting (rolling on the ground with a painful face) to convince the referee about Partizan players’ alleged fouls. In the first half Vad just warned those who fouled, but in the second half he started using the cards.
Penalty for Partizan!
But we couldn’t stand up to kick it, because Varela didn’t want to walk off the ground, the referee had to push him towards the tunnel.
Then world peace was settled back. Bojinov stood behind the ball.
Whistle.
Bojinov ran up...
...and the ball hit the goalpost. Goalkeeper Cojocaru had a short dance of joy at the goal line.
Brain death. Catatonia. Someone, please, wake me up, it is surely just a bad dream.
But the match continued. About 10 minutes passed, both teams were continuously attacking. Referee Vad gave out 4 yellow cards to Steaua during these 10 minutes.
Then in the 57th minute Andrija Živković was kicked to the ground at the corner of the penalty arae. Free kick, Babović shot, the goalkeeper caught it.
And then came the 60th minute...
...AND GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!! 2:2!!!!!!!
Aboubakar passed the ball to the middle from the left, to Jevtović. Jevtović didn’t waste any time, but sent a 25-metre bomb shot to the goal line. And he scored!!!! And what a goal it was!!!! Oh, my God, what a goal! We equalized!!!
(photo: Google)
In the 61st minute Babović was brutally kicked to the ground. Free kick, from 30 metres. Fabricio stood behind the ball. Then "Fabi" shot, it was quite a good one, the flat shot was caught by Cojocaru. In the 63rd minute Tade broke out and ran up to the goal line all of a sudden. He shot, thankfully it was too wide. A minute later Steaua tried again. The ball came from the right, ending in a corner kick, which was kicked out by our defenders.
In the 65th minute Partizan got a free kick. Andrija Živković shot.
And at this moment the net died here (me too, a bit). It wasn’t too long, maybe only 3 minutes, but when connection got back to normal, I could see the referee invalidating a Romanian goal. The situation seemed to be the same as with Partizan in the first half: one of their players got stuck in an offside position. The standing was still 2:2.
Not for long.
In the 69th minute Aboubakar was dribbling on the left side, then passed to Andrija Živković.
AND ŽILE SCORED SUCH A FANTASTIC GOAL THAT MADE THE NET TORN TO PIECES!!!! 3:2, PEOPLE!!!! WE ARE ON THE LEEEEAAAAAAAD!!!!!
(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)
Oh. My. God. We came back from the grave.
In the 73rd minute Steaua got a free kick. Živko Živković caught the ball with a crushing elegance. The pace was quite fast even until now, but after the goal it got even faster. The Romanian team was fighting for their survival, while Partizan’s players got an extra amount of courage from the goal. Fans were chanting "Srbija, Srbija". We attacked more and more, Steaua got a bit stuck in their half. In the 84th minute Brašanac shot from the penalty area line, but it was too high. A minute later we ran up to a counter-attack after a corner. Andrija Živković had the ball with himself, but the referee whistled it off, Saša Ilić was on offside.
In the 89th minute Aboubakar got the ball on the left and ran up immediately. He dribbled and passed it to Andrija Živković. Žile also dribbled, then passed it back to the middle, but it was too long for Aboubakar.
This was the point when the 4th assistant raised the board showing that the extra time would be 5 minutes. Fans were booing and whistling, but afterwards we could see how these 5 minutes came to hand for us.
Such things come to light always in hindsight.
In the 90+1st minute we got a corner. This time it was just a short kick, then someone passed it to the middle. Trujić, who just joined the game as a substitute, headed it to the goal line. The goalkeeper saved, the ball dropped back to Trujić. This time he didn’t miss it out, but headed it into the net. 4:2
4:2!!!!!
(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)
Unbelievable, just unbelievable. We came back from death, performing such a resurrection that only Partizan can do.
There was a Steaua-attack left for the last minute, but Živko Živković saved it with a French-styled elegance. And then came the final whistle. WE WON! WE WON! WE WON! WE QUALIFIED!!!
(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)
(photo: hotsport.rs)
Party-time at the end :)
Old friends, former teammates celebrated, too.
Bravo grobari !!! Svaka cast !! Mnogo srece u zrebu i sledecem kolu ! Idemo dalje ! #Partizan #championsleague
Posted by Bogdan Bogdanovic on Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Ideeeemoooooooo 💪💪💪 ⚪⚫⚪⚫ Svaka cast fudbalerima ⚪⚫⚪⚫ #partizan #institucija
— Edo Murić (@Edo_Muric) August 5, 2015
Grobariii 🙏🙌🏼 bravoooo
— Lazar Markovic (@LMarkec50) August 5, 2015
Congrats to Serbian team @FKPartizanBG! Great game by @justandrija. Hope #partizan will play #ucl @ChampionsLeague
— Nemanja Matić (@matic) August 5, 2015
Bravoo fudbaleri! Bravo Grobari! 👏💪 Idemo dalje ⚫️⚪️
— Danilo Andjusic (@Djusa33) August 5, 2015
Čestitke za @fkpartizanbg
Mismo jaci ⚫⚪
— Joffrey Lauvergne (@1JOLOLO) August 5, 2015
Highlights:
Facts:
Venue: Partizan Stadion, Belgrade
Number of spectators: 30 000
Referee: Istvád Vad (assistants: Péter Berettyán, László Viszokai - 4th assistant: Sándor Andó-Szabó) - HUN
FK Partizan: Ž. Živković - Vulićević, Balažic, Fabricio, N. Petrović - Brašanac, Jevtović - Aboubakar, Babović (Trujić, 90.), A. Živković - Bozsinov (S. Ilić, 60.)
Head coach: Zoran Milinković
Steaua Bukarest: Cojocaru - Alcenat, Papp, Varela, Tosca - Breeveld (Tudorie, 72.), Muniru - Popa, Hamroun (Iancu, 70.), Chipciu (Guilherme, 50.) - Tade
Head coach: Massimo Pedrazzini
Goal scorers: Babović (8.), Muniru (11.), Hamroun (33.), Jevtović (60.), A. Živković (69.), Trujić (90+1.)
Yellow card: Alcenat (54.), Hamroun (56.), Guilherme (57.), Breeveld (61.), Trujić (90+2.)
Red card: Varela (48.)
The play-off's draw takes part tomorrow.
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