FK Partizan - Napredak 3:2 (superliga, round 17)

It has been long since a football game freaked me out and racked my nerves this much. Well, Partizan has been trying hard in the past months to try my endurance, but last time I was this done was probably the game Austria vs. Hungary at Euro2016.

That was completely different though. That was magic, miracle, when you can’t sleep for the whole night afterwards. As for this game, I could listen to only some vibraphone jazz on a very low volume, but still had some twitching fits every now and then.

The first attempt was in the 4th minute. Vukanović shot, Kljajić saved. Two minutes later Leonardo had a try with a 25-metre free kick, but it was too high, way too high.
Jump to the 18th minute. Leonardo shot from 16 metres, the goalkeeper pushed it to corner kick with a great save.
Then a minute later N’Diaye and Markovski passed the ball around at our penalty area. It resulted a huge scramble and and almost-fight scene. Finally one of the Napredak-players pushed the ball ahead, right to Gobeljić. Gobeljić very aggressively attacked, literally exploded out from the mass scene and shot the ball into the box. 0:1
It was a very bad, nervous game. Referee Nenad Đokić was in the worst possible shape ever. He handed out a good handful of yellow cards in the first 30 minutes, waved "go ahead" numerous times when he should have whistled it off and he was simply unable to keep the game under control. Players fought with each other, there were many fouls and the level of the match was simply awful.
Bojinov tried the already racked nerves in the 29th minute, when he hit the crossbar from the goalmouth - again. Then Leonardo was dribbling on the left side then crossed to the middle - where everyone was just WATCHING it, with mouth open, as the ball rolled through the penalty area. Nobody made a move. Just nobody. This should have been the moment to stop the game and put the whole team into a line, make them bend over and kick everyone right in the ass. They would have deserved it, all of them.
A minute later Đurđević ran up inside Napredak’s penalty area. N’Diaye was behind him, forcing Đurđević out of the pitch through the baseline, then Đurđević fell to the ground. The slow motion replay showed N’Diaye slightly pushing Đurđević, but that was enough for Partizan’s striker to fall. But referee Đokić had a totally different point of view. For him Đurđević was just acting, probably with the hope to get a penalty kick. He showed Đurđević the yellow card, but Đurđević already had a yellow card - so he was sent off with a red one.

Needless to say it resulted a huge chaos. Partizan-players complained, while Đurđević had to be kept back by a Napredak-player not to do something stupid.

42nd minute. Balažic made a huge mistake, my teeth almost fell out seeing it. The punishment by Napredak was fast and ruthless. Vukanović grabbed the ball, ran away with it towards our penalty area. Kljajić ran out of the goalmouth, Vukanović passed the ball above him, right into the box. 0:2
Bojinov again screwed up an attempt in the 43rd minute. All doors and windows were open, and it was so very painful, that Leonardo (from whom Bojinov got the pass before the attempt) ran to the Bulgarian and started to yell at him with big gestures. Honestly? I could totally understand the Brazilian’s rage. Bojinov has been sinking lower and lower in the past games. An average coach would kick him out of the stadium... I very much hope Marko Nikolić will not allow this talentless sloth into the starting eleven anymore after this horrible performance, not just into the starting eleven, but even to the substitute squad. (By the way, young Vlahović could get more chance. He is a million times more talented and skilled than this stupid brat Bulgarian.)
It was already the extra time, when Leonardo forced our first goal into the box. He got the ball from Saša Ilić at the half-line, ran up wrestling with a defender (the defender fell, and for Leonardo’s great luck the referee just waved "go ahead", didn’t whistle it off), reached the penalty area, passed to Saša Ilić, the Captain passed him back, Leonardo shot and scored. 1:2

There was time one last Napredak-attack, Šarac shot, barely missing it.

Lazar Ćirković was there to watch the game (in yellow hooded sweatshirt)

When the two teams walked out for the second half, there was some boo and hiss from the stands, and not really for the guests... Partizan started the second part with big pace, but the truth is that Napredak played with a much more collected style (so did they in the first half), and they could turn Partizan’s weak points for their own advantage. Other than that they had great and very fast counter-attacks. No wonder they are 4th on the league table.
In the 54th minute Partizan got a penalty kick. Bojinov fell to the ground inside the penalty area, the referee whistled, stood at the white dot, while gave a second yellow card to Leković, so Napredak also continued the game with 10 players.
But before continuing Leonardo stood to the white dot to shoot the penalty kick. He did so, and scored. 2:2

I’m still not really impressed by Leonardo, because Partizan had much better players in the past, and even the not-so-talented, not-so-skilled ones were better than this Brazilian. Still he is the only one right now in Partizan’s current squad who is willing to shoot on target. You can take a look at our statistics, our numbers at "shoot on target" are scandalous. And well, goal comes only by shooting on target. The ball will not roll into the box by itself.

Partizan’s equalizing goal turned everyone into a nervous idiot as much that at a free kick Bojinov started to yell with Janković. (Before that Balažic missed out a chance when heading Leonardo’s cross to the box, just the goalkeeper saved. Napredak made an instant counter-attack, Urošević shot, too high.) In the 75th minute we had another try. Vulićević, who has been as invisible as a ghost lately, crossed to the middle. Leonardo headed it to the box, it was too wide. Then Bojinov again missed out an attempt. Task done for him.
Everyone was waiting for the final whistle, when Stevanović shot out of the blue. It was all of a sudden, nobody expected it, probably that’s why he could score. 3:2, miracles exist.

Highlights:

Facts:

Venue: Partizan Stadion, Belgrade
Number of spectators: 3000
Official: Nenad Đokić (assistants: Vladimir Jovanović, Nemanja Petrović - 4th official: Igor Stojilković)

FK Partizan: Kljajić, Vulićević, Balažic (Janković, 65.), Milenković, Miletić, Jevtović, S. Ilić, Leonardo (Vlahović, 90.), A. Stevanović, Đurđević, Bojinov (Ostojić, 87.)
Head coach: Marko Nikolić

Napredak: Petrović, N’Diaye, Leković, Simonović, Miladinović, Šljivić, Šarac (Jovović, 64.), Markovski, Gobeljić, Urošević, Vukanović (Frimpong, 84.)
Head coach: Dragan Ivanović

Goal scorers: Gobeljić (19.), Vukanović (42.), Leonardo (45+2., 54. - pen.), A. Stevanović (84.)
Yellow card: Leković (17.), S. Ilić (26.), Markovski (32.), Đurđević (34.), Miletić (49.), Milenković (53.), N’Diaye (74.), Miladinović (80.)
Red card: Đurđević (37.), Leković 54.) - second yellow card for both

League table will be brought tomorrow.
Update: league table.
1. CZ 44 points
2. Partizan 38 points
3. Vojvodina 38 points
4. Napredak 31 points
5. Mladost 31 points
6. Radnički Niš 27 points
7. Spartak Subotica 25 points
8. Javor 23 points
9. Metalac 20 points
10. Rad 20 points
11. FK Voždovac 18 points
12. Čukarički 17 points
13. Radnik 16 points
14. Novi Pazar 12 points
15. OFK Bačka 11 points
16. Borac 8 points

(photos: partizan.rs)

FK Partizan - Novi Pazar 4:0 (superliga, round 15)

Did you know that His Majesty Lord Fat Pig I. (alias Miloš Vazura) and The Former Politician Who Used To Be The Bestie Of Milošević (aka Milorad Vučelić) and co. are served by a waiter in the VIP-section?
You didn’t know?
Now you know.

A waiter. For fuck’s sake. A WAITER

While in a silent corner of the eastern tribune there was someone sitting there all alone...

Yes, it’s him. Nikola Drinčić, humbly, by himself

(photo: Facebook/Bianconeri di Belgrado)

Some rumour about Škuletić being there as well, if I find any photo about that, I’ll upload, of course.

Talking about the game, we attacked right in the first minute, Stevanović crossed, but nobody was fast enough to catch it. The reply came in the 3rd minute through Čečarić and his attempt, Kljajić caught it. Two minutes later he (Kljajić) had great luck, when he made a goal-kick, and the ball dropped to a Novi Pazar-player (Dimitrijević). Dimitrijević ran up, shot, Kljajić ran back to the goalmouth and could catch the ball just before the goal line.
Novi Pazar had a strong start, then Đurđević shot the ball into the goalkeeper in the 9th minute. Marjanović did the same in the 17th. In the 24th Stevanović crossed from the left, Đurđević was too slow, the goalkeeper caught it.
We took the lead in the 26th minute. Marjanović passed to Stevanović. Stevanović ran up, dribbled inside the penalty area, then passed to Bojinov, who was (again) slow like a sloth. But not Janković. He appeared out of the blue behind the Bulgarian and shot the ball right into the box. 1:0

27th minute, corner-kick for Partizan. Guess whose head flew the ball above with just two millimetres?
a) Bojinov
b) the Sloth
c) the Bulgarian, who is proven to be too small
In the 30th minute Alivodić had a try, too wide. Afterwards a very thick smoke covered the pitch, too thick to be able to see anything. Even the commentator was just guessing whether the fouling Novi Pazar player got a yellow card or not, because nothing could be seen, maybe only silhouettes.
The next goal was a fail by Novi Pazar. Goalkeeper Zogović surely regretted in that moment to end up at the goal line instead of being e.g. a rope-dancer. Stevanović ran up, passed to Miletić, Miletić passed it back to Stevanović. Stevanović shot, it was a powerful one, the goalkeeper saved, but the ball dropped out of his hands and slowly rolled into the box. 2:0

Discreet happiness

In the 41st minute Janković shot with a fantastic bicycle-kick. Pity it was too wide, had he scored, he could have stood in line for the Puskás-award.

By the way, this was the southern tribune. What a crowd, isn’t it? Oh, wait...
Well, what did we expect, only 2500 spectators were present officially.

At the beginning of the second half Marjanović crossed the ball from the right, Bojinov was too slow again, missing it with just half a centimetre.

Bojinov was his own shadow at this game. I don’t even remember when was the last time he had so many screwed-up situations. He was always too slow to reach passes and crosses, he shot the ball into the opponent players, kicked into the ball just to make it roll out through the line and so on. Sometimes I had the feeling he was doing it on purpose. This kind of fooling around may do on a gala match, but it’s just fucking no funny on a championship game.

In the 54th minute Janković got a pass. He ran up, dribbled a defender and shot, it ended with a corner-kick.
It was still the 54th minute, we scored our 3rd goal. I have never seen such a comedy so far (It wasn’t the funny type, rather the pathetic one.)
Marjanović arrived on the right and crossed the ball to the other side, where Bojinov and Đurđević were both waiting.

Both of them attempted, making this weid, ballet-alike scene...

...nevertheless the ball dropped to the box, Bojinov ran out to the tribune to celebrate himself...

...the only problem was that the slow motion replay showed Uroš Đurđević scoring the goal, from every possible angle.

It wasn’t you, dude

The stadium speaker nevertheless mentioned Bojinov as the goal scorer, while the official match report named Đurđević. Meanwhile ArenaSport’s commentator couldn’t find his breath from laugh over this situation.

Oh well. A goal is always a goal and it must be celebrated

It made me laugh though when the commentator mentioned the goal scorers. He said, "first goal, Janković, second goal, Stevanović... then, well for me it’s Đurđević here, for Bojinov... it’s Bojinov".

In the 57th minute Đurđević got a pass (probably from Miletić), he shot, right into the goalkeeper.
Novi Pazar’s first and only attempt in the second half was in the 82th minute. Đoković shot from the right, Kljajić saved, corner-kick.

It made me raise my eyebrows to see Everton kicking everyone to the ground who just approaches him - he does not do it this often with the ball though... - but when he gets a kick, he collapses, rolls up and down on the field and plays the dying swan. Someone should tell him that he should focus on actual playing instead of being a pussy, because sometimes I can count on one hand how often he touches the ball during a match.

Đuričković’s score in the 84th minute settled the final result. It was a smooth thing, the ball dropped to the midfielder, he sent a cannon shot from 18 metres and scored. 4:0

A minute later Micevski tried the same trick on the other side, just he shot from 30 metres and it was too high. Alivodić had an attempt, too, trying to score one just for the honour, but Kljajić saved. Then in the 89th minute Ostojić headed the ball to the box, but it was too wide. The last attempt was in the extra time, Janković had a distant shot, but this too was too wide.

Saša Ilić. He didn’t play a minute, still he got a loud applause

Highlights:

Facts:

Venue: Partizan Stadion, Belgrade
Number of spectators: 2500
Official: Nenad Đokić (assistants: Vladimir Jovanović, Slobodan Pavlović - 4th assistant: Marko Popović)

FK Partizan: Kljajić, Vulićević, Milenković, Ostojić, Miletić, Everton, Marjanović, A. Stevanović (Đuričković, 79.), Janković, Đurđević (Đurđić, 72.), Bojinov (Mihajlović, 70.)
Head coach: Marko Nikolić

Novi Pazar: Zogović, Stanojević, Alivodić, Travanović (Đoković, 41.), Čečarić, Brunčević (Kačar, 59.), Pajović, Dimitrijević, Rajabov (Lepović, 65.), Svojić, Micevski
Head coach: Zoran Govedarica

Goal scorers: Janković (26.), A. Stevanović (37.), Đurđević (54.), Đuričković (84.)
Yellow card: Čečarić (69.), Đoković (77.), Milenković (78.)

Current championship standings:
1. CZ 38 points
2. Partizan 32 points
3. Vojvodina 32 points
4. Napredak 31 points
5. Radnički Niš 27 points
6. Mladost 25 points
7. Spartak Subotica 22 points
8. Rad 19 points
9. Metalac 17 points
10. Javor 17 points
11. Radnik 15 points
12. FK Voždovac 14 points
13. Čukarički 13 points
14. Novi Pazar 12 points
15. OFK Bačka 11 points
16. Borac 8 points

(unmarked photos: partizan.rs)

FK Partizan - Radnički Niš 1:1 (superliga, round 13.)

In the 5th minute Everton tripped over the ball and fell so hard to the ground that he had to come off the pitch.

Kljajić made his first actual movement in the 10th minute, but even then he just had to run out from the goalmouth to catch the ball. That was all the action in the first 15 minutes. Like a low mediocre Hungarian championship game.
In the 16th minute the guests had to substitute, too. Stojanović walked off the pitch limping.
The 17th minute brought the first actual attempt. Leonardo crossed from the left to the goalmouth, but the goalkeeper was quicker than Đurđić.
The 27th minute brought the next action. Đurđević was about to get a pass, but again the goalkeeper was there earlier than him.

It was saddening to see what an idealess football we played. Players were running up and down, all over the field, we possessed the ball, too, but we couldn’t come up with one single useful attempt. The same goes for Radnički as well.

The guests took the lead out of the blue in the 31st minute. They got a free kick about 25 metres from the goal line. Arsić crossed it, Kljajić jumped and saved, but he dropped the ball out of his hands. And before he or any other Partizan-defender could have caught it, Pavkov arrived and pushed it to the box. 0:1
Some attempts could be seen at the end of the half. It was already the 3rd minute of the extra time, when Kljajić saved a cross coming from the right, then Radnički’s defense made a huge mistake, but neither Đurđević, nor Đurđić could take advantage of it.

Stevanović was the player of the day, working hard, taking a huge part of almost all attempts (when we had any)

We quickly equalized at the beginning of the second half. In the 48th minute we got a corner kick, and after a goalmouth scramble Đurđić kicked the ball into the box. 1:1

We made another dangerous attempt in the 61st minute, Radnički’s defenders headed the ball downfield almost from the goal line.

In between nothing much happened, maybe one thing is worth to mention, Radnički played the offside-tactics very well. Not as if we could make it up to their penalty area that often, but whenever it still happened, it was almost immediately flag up and the referee whistled it off. All slow motion replays confirmed the offside every time. It was a hard, struggling second half.

In the 70th minute Đurđević missed out a huge chance. Marjanović crossed from the left, Đurđević headed it, the goalkeeper could barely save it, with fingertips. In the 74th minute a Radnički-player headed it to the box, being all alone, our defenders were behind somewhere, but Kljajić saved. A minute later came the upcoming chance, now for us, but we missed it out... First the ball rolled out missing the box with just centimetres, the attempt ended in corner-kick. Balažic headed the ball to the box, but it was too high. In the 78th minute we got another corner-kick, this time Ostojić headed it, the goalkeeper saved from the goal line.

Enter Saša Ilić: this time was the 792nd time he wore Partizan’s jersey. With this he is the absolute record holder

The last 15 minutes brought a bit more speed to the game, with attempts that were quite dangerous sometimes. In the 84th minute Arsić crossed from the left, Kljajić caught it. Two minutes later Jevtović had a distant shot, the goalkeeper saved. In the 89th minute Pavkov shot, this time onto the side net. In the very same minute Marjanović fell to the ground inside Radnički’s penalty area, but the referee didn’t whistle (there was no slow motion replay afterwards).
At the end Bojinov missed out two attempts (first he was on offside, second he - as usual - shot into the sky instead of the box, from just a few steps), then at the very end we got one last free kick. Ostojić wanted to forward it to the box with his head, but the goalkeeper was quicker.
No applause, no singing by the fans after the match ended, just sparse whistles.

Disappointed players from the bench walking back to the locker-room

Gregor Balažic is not happy

Something’s wrong. No matter how hard Marko Nikolić is trying to bring the team back to life, no matter how many times we win, something is still out of order. We have a minimalist, soulless performance on games, there are no strong or just unique characters among players. Most of them have serious ups and downs in their performance, I could count on one hand how many members of the roster are doing it smooth. The low number of spectators speaks for itself... We may be third on the league table, but the stadium is still empty.

Facts:

Venue: Partizan Stadion, Belgrade
Number of spectators: 3000
Official: Róbert Kis-Csepegi (assistants: - Dejan Petrović, Dejan Potočan -  4th official: Novica Anđelovski)

FK Partizan: Kljajić, Vulićević, Balažic, Ostojić, Miletić, Jevtović, Everton (Marjanović, 12.), A. Stevanović, Leonardo, Đurđić (Bojinov, 68.), Đurđević (S. Ilić, 79.)
Head coach: Marko Nikolić

Radnički Niš: Bajić, Bulatović, Stojanović (Mitrović, 17.), Pavkov, Arsić, Petrović, Mrkić (Ignjatović, 85.), Stanojević, Jovanović (Apostolović, 88.), Stanković, Radivojević
Head coach: Milan Rastavac

Goal scorers : Pavkov (31.), Đurđić (48.)
Yellow card: Stanojević (9.), Jevtović (18.), Leonardo (90.)

Current championship standings:
1. CZ 32 points
2. Vojvodina 29 points
3. Partizan 26 points
4. Napredak 25 points
5. Radnički Niš 24 points
6. Mladost 22 points
7. Spartak Subotica 18 points
8. Rad 18 points
9. Metalac 15 points
10. Radnik 15 points
11. FK Voždovac 14 points
12. Novi Pazar 11 points
13. Javor 11 points
14. Čukarički 10 points
15. OFK Bačka 10 points
16. Borac 9 points

(photos: partizan.rs)

FK Partizan - FK Voždovac 3:0 (superliga, round 26)

We won!
It feels so strange to write it down after who knows how many lost matches.

By the way, prevention is better than cure, I made myself a big cup of coffee before the match not to end up like last time.

The stadium was suspended again. It was a punishment after the eternal derby, when the game had to be paused numerous times for the heavy smoke fans made with firecrackers and torches.

When will these get suspended?... Seriously, when that day comes, I’ll open a champagne

(photo: partizan.rs)

On the other hand, fuck them, just FUCK THEM ALL, together with their rotten double standards. When fans are not allowed to enter the stadium, why is this disgusting, fat, pig-faced, lousy worm is allowed with his 138 000 din + 4000 euro salary?...

The match started the oddest possible way. Voždovac attacked and Gogoua carelessly passed the ball back to Šaranov. Our goalkeeper also didn’t waste time on thinking, just grabbed the ball.
Well, it was a big mistake.
The referee whistled, free kick inside the penalty area.

Has nobody told this guy NEVER EVER TO TOUCH THE BALL WITH HANDS when it’s passed back to him, even if nuclear bombs are dropping form the sky?...

The entire Partizan lined up on the goal. Marinković shot, and even though he missed it out, he hit Stevanović so hard with the ball that the midfielder fell on the ground with a painful face. The guests had another attempt in the 5th minute, Ćirković ran up with the ball on the right side. Šaranov ran out of the goalmouth and had a great save.
In the 10th minute we got a free kick 30-35 metres from the goal line, in the middle. Jevtović shot, the goalkeeper saved. A minute later we got a corner kick. Mihajlović sent it in, Brašanac pushed it with his head - right into the box! 1:0!

(photos: hotsport.rs)

In the 15th minute, after a free kick

there were a lot of fouls, someone was always rolling on the ground from pain. It all made the game a bit fragmented

we possessed the ball. Mihajlović crossed it from the left to the middle, where Brašanac was waiting for it. He shot, the ball hit a defender and just barely missed the goal. It was very close to an own goal.
In the 22nd minute Stevanović arrived on the right side. He crossed to the middle, Saša Ilić got it. The Captain shot, the goalkeeper had a big save.
A miracle happened in the 25th minute.
We got a penalty kick.
Mihajlović was pushed to the ground by a defender inside the penalty area. The referee immediately pointed at the white spot. Stevanović stood behind the ball.
Here another miracle happened.
Stevanović scored.
Yes. Him. From penalty. 2:0!!!

(photos: hotsport.rs)

In the 31st minute again Stevanović crossed from the right to the middle. First Saša Ilić shot, but he was blocked by defenders. The ball dropped to Brašanac, he shot, too, but it was too wide. A minute later Jevtović had a try and shot from the distance, it was too high.
We continuously attacked, Voždovac was stuck in their half. They could break free and reach our penalty area in the 37th minute. Marinković crossed to Odita from the left, but Šaranov deactivated them in time.
Here the pace slowed down a bit. Finally Marinković had a sudden, distant shot in the 43rd minute. Šaranov saved. Then we had two attempts, first Brašanac sent a flat shot to the goal line (too wide), then Mihajlović kicked the ball towards the box from the distance (too high).
At the very end Šaranov still did everything to tear my nerves to pieces. He wanted to make a goal-kick, but instead of downfield he shot it right into Odita, who was standing there just two steps away from Partizan’s goalkeeper. The ball made a dangerous curve, finally it flew out of the field.
The second half started right with Gogoua’s last-moment-save from Odita. Then nothing happened until the 57th minute, when we got a corner-kick. Brašanac possessed the ball, standing right at the goalmouth. He shot, but instead of the box he hit the goalkeeper and the ball flew out above the crossbar. Corner-kick, Kosović headed it towards the goal, but the ball hit a defender, earning us another corner-kick.
In the 60th minute again Šaranov had his moment. A cross arrived from the left, Odita was there waiting for it to shoot it right into the net. Šaranov wanted to save, but instead of the ball he grabbed the air. For his (and our) great luck the ball rolled out of the baseline and the attempt ended in a corner-kick.
In the 64th minute Stevanović shot from the right side, but he was blocked by a defender. The ball dropped to Saša Ilić, he shot, too, the goalkeeper caught it.
Then came the 70th minute.
Then came Kosović.
He scored such a FANTASTIC goal, with such an amazing bicycle kick, that he MUST get the Puskás-award right now.
It was such a marvellous goal that even ArenaSport’s commentator said "bravo" afterwards.

(photos: hotsport.rs)

In the 83rd minute Voždovac got a free kick approx. 22 metres from the goal. Marinković shot, making a goalmouth scramble, then Stojanović attempted with a heading, but it was too wide.
Then in the 86th minute something happened with Šaranov - nobody knew what it could be, because everyone else was at the other side of the field around Voždovac’s penalty area. Partizan’s goalkeeper was waving to the medicals to come, because he needed attendance. The only info source says that he was "not well", then the doctor gave him something to take or eat (probably vitamines or dextrose) then the game continued.
For the very end we had one spectacular attack left, then Mihajlović got the pass. He shot, but it was too high.

40-minute-long highlights by SOS Kanal:

Facts:

Venue: Partizan Stadion, Belgrade
Number of spectators: -
Referee: Nenad Đokić (assistant: Vladimir Jovanović, Goran Stanojević - 4th assistant: Vladimir Šegrt - goal line assistants: Dejan Filipović, Dejan Dimitrijević)

FK Partizan: Šaranov - Bandalovski, Gogoua, Jovanović, Bogosavac - Brašanac, Jevtović, Kosović (Lukić, 71.) - Stevanović (Golubović, 82), S. Ilić (Bojinov, 75.), Mihajlović
Head coach: Ivan Tomić

FK Voždovac: Popović - Terzić, Mihajlov, Ivković, Puzigaća - Pavlović, Radin - Ćirković (Stojanović, 59.), Marinković (Damjanović, 84.), Krasić (Asani, 76.) - Odita
Head coach: Bratislav Živković

Goal scorers: Brašanac (11.), Stevanović (25. - pen.), Kosović (70.)
Yellow card: Marinković (12.), Kosović (17.), Terzić (55.), Ivković (70.)

League table will be brought tomorrow.
Update: current championship standings*
1. CZ 71 points
2. Borac 43 points
3. Partizan 42 points
4. Čukarički 41 points
5. Radnički Niš 41 points
6. Vojvodina 39 points
7. FK Voždovac 36 points
8. Surdulica 34 points
9. Javor 31 points
10. Mladost 31 points
11. Metalac 28 points
12. Novi Pazar 28 points
13. Spartak Zlatibor Voda 23 points
14. OFK Beograd 23 points
15. Jagodina 22 points
16. Rad 21 points

*Novi Pazar - cz and Mladost - Čukarički are postponed

FK Partizan - Radnički Niš 2:0 (Serbian Cup, quarterfinals)

A boring match behind closed doors with two very lucky goals. That’s all in a summary, it’s not really worth to know more about it actually.

Empty stands all around

Maybe one more thing to know about this game is that our starting eleven didn’t contain any striker. We played in 5-5-0.

I have never seen anything like this, ever. Bojinov was on the bench, Vlahović was on the bench, Fofana disappeared.

Question of the day: if the stadium was suspended for the match, what the hell were these good-for-nothings doing in the VIP-lounge?

Double standards, a?...

Oh, I got it now. Only Partizan-fans were banned out of the stadium.
While them...

But cheers up. We walked out to the field and this spectacular nothing (aka quarterfinal) could start.
Radnički got a corner kick right in the first minute. Šaranov punched the ball out. Later Todorović had a try, but the ball flew out of the field above the crossbar.
We had our first attempt that is worth to mention in the 10th minute. Someone (either Kosović or Mihajlović) shot, it was too high.
In the 14th minute Radnički had another attempt. For our great luck the ball rolled out just a bit through the baseline, but referee Mažić saw it and whistled the action off.

It was an "all doors and windows open"-situation, had Mažić not whistled it off, it would have been one brutal goal for the guests.

Four minutes later Mihajlović got a pass on the left side. Radnički-defenders waved for offside, but the referee didn’t whistle. Mihajlović wasted no time, he shot and scored. 1:0

After the goal there had been a lot of analyzing about whether it was offside or not. ArenaSport showed the scene in slow motion replay from more angles - well, to be honest, I wouldn’t bet on it. Neither on offside, nor on the opposite. From one angle it was offside, though just a few millimetres, but still offside. From another it was only same-line offside, which is still valid. Nevertheless after the goal the referee pointed at the half-line circle, validating the goal. 

This was Mihajović’s first goal for Partizan

He dedicated it to the memory of his father

In the 22nd minute Bogdanović sent a shot to our goal. Šaranov caught it. In the 26th minute Marjanović had a cannon shot. Šaranov saved. Then came a corner kick for Radnički, Bulatović headed it, but it was too wide.
Two minutes later Kosović sent an excellent pass to Mihajlović. Flag up, finally goalkeeper Jovanović breathlessly ran out of the goalmouth and caught the ball.
In the 34th minute the guests got a free kick (right side, 25-27 metres from our goal line). Đuričković shot, Šaranov saved, but Radnički still possessed the ball. Finally Marjanović kicked it to the goal, but it was too weak to be dangerous.
In the 36th minute Mihajlović got a great pass again, now on the right side. He shot, it was too high.
The next action came in the 42nd minute. Now Aleksandar Jovanović got the ball. He ran up on the right side, crossed (if I could see well, Todorović was on the receiving end), the ball was headed to the goal line, Šaranov caught it.
During the game there were too many imprecise passes and crosses on both sides. Saša Ilić simply disappeared after the first 10-15 minutes, as if he wasn’t on the field at all. If he appeared, then it was only because a Radnički-player stole the ball and ran around him so simply and quickly as if he would be running around an advertising pillar instead of Partizan’s captain.
Then thankfully we could have some half-time rest.

When he possessed the ball

In the second half, at the 49th minute Partizan got a penalty kick. Two Radnički-player got Stevanović into a "sandwich" inside their penalty area, and one of them touched the ball with his hand while wrestling.
Mihajlović stood behind the ball. He shot...

...and the goalkeeper of Radnički saved it! I must admit, he did it with fantastic reflexes. Then defenders quickly headed the ball out to corner kick.
In the 54th minute Apostolović came up on the left side. Gogoua was behind him, finally Šaranov threw himself into the way. We started a counter-attack. Bogosavac got the ball, he wanted to shoot, but he hit the goalkeeper.
Then came a few minutes of silence. The next action was in the 59th minute, but even then it was just Bogosavac passing to Lukić, but a defender was quicker than them and tackled.
In the 64th minute Radnički got a free kick. The cross arrived, a player jumped forward - and clashed with Šaranov. Partizan’s goalkeeper fell on the ground and stayed there for a while.
Then the only thing that brought some variety was to count which player was kicked to the ground. Finally in the 75th minute Bandalovski headed the ball to the goal after a corner kick, but it was too wide.
I swear I was about to fall asleep, when in the 80th minute Kosović passed to Stevanović. Stevanović lobbed the ball with an unusual movement

it’s not characteristic for him to have excellent, tricky movements. This was one of them. I didn’t want to believe my eyes.

above the goalkeeper, right into the net. 2:0

Inform the diocesan, the patriarch and all the church authorities, because a miracle happened

Stevanović scored a goal!!!!

This was the surprise of the month. I don’t have a high opinion about Stevanović, I find him a grey, not too talented player, who is (theoretically) playing on an attacker position, though there’s one thing he just can’t do: scoring goals.
Well, now he did.

A minute later Radnički got a free kick, about 24-25 metres from our goal line, in the middle. Marjanović shot, Šaranov saved. Four minutes later again Marjanović had a try, now he headed it, Šaranov saved again.

Highlights:

In the semifinal we’ll play against Borac.

Facts:

Venue: Partizan Stadion, Belgrade
Number of spectators: -
Referee: Milorad Mažić (assistants: Milovan Ristić, Dalibor Đurđević - 4th assistant: Milan Jeremić)

FK Partizan: Šaranov, Bandalovski, Gogoua, M. Jovanović, Bogosavac, Everton, Kosović, Lukić (Brašanac, 73.), A. Stevanović, Mihajlović (Golubović, 90+1.), S. Ilić (Vlahović, 87.)
Head coach: Ivan Tomić

Radnički Niš: Aleksandar C. Jovanović, Petrović, D. Bulatović, R. Bulatović, Tomić (Stevanović, 60.), Bogdanović (Krstić, 79.), Đuričković, Marjanović (Mrkić, 65.), Todorović, Aleksandar M. Jovanović, Apostolović
Head coach: Milan Rastavac

Goal scorers: Mihajlović (18.), Stevanović (80.)
Yellow card: M. Jovanović (30.), Everton (76.), Đuričković (86.)

(photos: partizan.rs)

News

Milorad Vučelić is the new president of Partizan sports society (also known as JSD Partizan).

I feel the same way as you now, dear Reader.

Former president Duško Vujošević’s mandate has been over, a new president, vice presidents and excecutive committe were elected. Due to rumours Vučelić was voted unanimously.
That Vučelić, who depraved the football team during his approx. 1-year reigning, who sold out the best players, who got Marko Nikolić discharged, who brought here Stefan Babović and Zoran Milinković, meanwhile the team reached its rock bottom, mostly morally, and is 17 points behind the team (I won’t say their name) that is leading the league table.
The vice presidents are Nenad Golijanin and Andrea Arsović.

I wonder who and how drew the otherwise successful sports shooter Andreja Arsović into it.

The members of the executive committee are Nenad Golijanin, Miloš Vazura, Zoran Popović, Vojislav Nedić, Miroslav Nedić, Mlađan Šilobad, Aleksandar Šoštar, Velimir Marjanović, Aleksandar Blagojević, Borko Drašković and Duško Jovanović.
You can really feel the mawkish fart-smell of the overlord/vassal/servant system.
Dear fellow fans and Grave Diggers, this is a very sad day in the 70-year-old history of Partizan.

***

Meanwhile the football players were taken to get flu vaccine, most probably to draw away attention from this shameful president election. Don't ever ask why young, healthy professional sportsmen need such a vaccine, but obviously Bel Medic private hospital needed some extra advertisement.

Team doctor Ilija Rosić heads the line giving a good example

Marko Jevtović is trying with optimisim, but it’s not easy to pretend you’re jolly when you’re not

...when it was Stevanović’s turn, the shiny happy mood was gone

Šaponjić looks a bit confused

Subić probably thinks that it was not included in his job description

Stevanović: "Hey, bro, do you know why it’s good for us?"

Grbić: "Dunno... I was told, if we were good, we’d get chocolate..."

(photos: partizan.rs)