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 - OFK Beograd 2:1 (Jelen SuperLiga, Round 8)

I’ll be honest and I won’t mind even if someone(s) will hate me for this. But I was utterly happy when I got to know that neither Babović, nor Fabricio would be in the starting eleven. I admit, I didn’t shed a tear for Petrović either. What is more: the talentless, but cocky Babović shouldn’t be more than a ball-boy at some recreational training. But only when nobody else is available.
And finally the left side of our defense line was not looking like a corridor for pedestrians.
Because there was our diligent, hard-working Ćirković...

...and the talented, reliable Bandalovski, who is useful on both the left and the right side and is able to play over his entire side, from the defense to the midfield, a typical "wildcard player".

Why, why, why must such players be bench warmers?!... Bandalovski should be the base of the defense line, being in the starting 11 at every game. Other trainers would fall over themselves to get such a defender, while over here he is stuck in the second team. And how many other players are there, who, like him, are talented but can barely make it to the A-team, or sometimes even to the bench, God damn it.

So, we walked out to the field and already in the 2nd minute Ćirković headed the ball to the goal line after a corner kick. Pity it was too wide. Two minutes later Saša Ilić got the ball in the middle. He shot from 16 metres. It was dangerous, the goalkeeper had a great save.

If I wanted to be mean now, I’d say, there it is, Babović is out of the team, and Saša Ilić immediately shows he still has a lot reserved.

Then in the 6th minute Aboubakar came up on the left side and kicked the ball to Saša Ilić. The Captain passed it ahead to Andrija Živković in the middle. The young world champion got it and walked right into the net with it. GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAL! 1:0!!!

Saša Ilić passes it to the middle...

...Andrija Živković arrives from the background and shots

In the first 15 minutes Partizan dominated. OFK could barely get to our half, and even that didn’t last too long. The pace got slower, but we kept the game under control. OFK just assisted and they were busy mostly with keeping the ball as far from their goalmouth as possible.
In the 25th minute Andrija Živković was dribbling on the right side, then passed it to Brašanac in the middle. Brašanac headed it to the goal line, the goalkeeper caught it.
In the 30th minute OFK got a corner kick. Ješić shot, Partizan-defenders headed it out, right in front of Avramovski. The Macedonian player kicked into the air instead of the ball, it was painful to see. Finally the ball rolled out of the line. Goal-kick.
In the 32nd minute we got a free kick, approx. 25-28 metres from the goal line. Andrija Živković stood behind the ball. He shot, Balažic jumped up to head it, but Savić was quicker. It ended in a corner kick.
In the 35th minute a huge chance was missed out. Andrija Živković dribbled himself up on the right, then after this great solo he shot. He missed with barely a few centimetres.

A minute later Andrija Živković ran up with the ball on the right side. He passed it out to Vulićević, who kicked it to the middle. There Šaponjić rose up to the skies and flawlessly headed it into the net. GOOOOAAAAAAAAL, wonderful, perfect goal!!! 2:0!!!

There was a free kick left in the last minute before the end of the first half, 22 metres from the goal line. Andrija Živković kicked, the ball hit the wall.
The second half started with Subašić hitting Ćirković in the face, it brought a small pause for the game. Then in the 52nd minute OFK made it to Partizan’s penalty area after a long time. They came up on the left, the first attempt was saved by Živko Živković

it almost looked like an action that ends in a penalty kick, also the ball seemed to roll out of the field for a moment, but the refere didn’t whistle

the ball dropped right in front of Ignjatijević, who shot from a sharp left angle. And scored. 2:1
Two minutes later we got a free kick. About 25 metres, right side. Andrija Živković stood behind the ball. He kicked it inside the penalty area, Ćirković headed it, but the referee whistled it off.
The match started to slow down. Partizan’s first-half-pace disappeared. OFK didn’t want to speed it up either. The game was going on mostly the midfield, then in the 61st minute Andrija Živković grabbed the ball some time in the depths, near Partizan’s penalty area. He run up, with great solo, passed it to Vulićević on the right. Vulićević headed towards the penalty area and passed it towards Šaponjić in the middle, but a defender blocked the attempt.

In the 67th minute Bandalovski gave a great pass to Brašanac. Brašanac ran up in the middle, shot, the goalkeeper pushed the ball out, ending the action in corner kick. The kick was headed out by OFK defenders, in front of Trujić. Trujić shot, from about 16 metres, but it was too high.

Question of today’s game: why did Brašanac have to come off in the 75th minute?... He wasn’t injured, he was the heart and soul of the midfield. Why, why, why?...

In the 78th minute Jevtović sent a distant shot to the goal, but the ball flew out above the crossbar.
Then in the 80th minute Gojkov passed to Ignjatijević. Ignjatijević attacked, it was dangerous, but we had Živko Živković at the goal line, who can save much more dangerous attempts as well. He could demonstrate his skills 3 minutes later, when Simić ran up to the goalmouth with two Partizan-defenders in his back. Simić shot, Živko Živković saved with his leg.

At long last Ninković got a chance to play, he even got the captain’s armband

At the very end, in the 90+1st minute Trujić was kicked to the ground inside the penalty area, but the referee didn’t whistle.

Highlights:

Facts:

Venue: Partizan Stadion, Belgrade
Number of spectators: 4000
Referee: Ilija Brdar (assistants: Uroš Stojković, Bojan Stanojević - 4th assistant: Vukan Gordić - goal line assistants: Vlado Glođović, Novak Simović)

FK Partizan: Ž. Živković - Vulićević, Balažic, Ćirković, Bandalovski - Jevtović, Brašanac (Lukić, 73.) - A. Živković, S. Ilić (Ninković, 84.), Aboubakar (Trujić, 55.) - Šaponjić
Head coach: Zoran Milinković

OFK Beograd: Čupić - Ješić, Planić, Savić, Ignjatijević - Damjanović, Stjepanović (Gojkov, 40.) - Jovanović, Avramovski (Rajevac, 46.), Liščević - Subašić (Simić, 74.)
Head coach: Dragoljub Bekvalac

Goal scorers: A. Živković (6.), Šaponjić (36.), Ignjatijević (52.)
Yellow card: Planić (42.), Bandalovski (54.), Liščević (75.), Savić (81.)

I’ll update the post with the league table later, on Sunday there will be more matches of this round.

Update: current championship standings.
1. Crvena Zvezda 20 points
2. Javor 16 points
3. Partizan 15 points
4. Radnički Niš 13 points
5. Vojvodina 13 points
6. Novi Pazar 12 points
7. Čukarički 11 points
8. Borac 11 points
9. FK Voždovac 9 points
10. Metalac 9 points
11. Spartak Zlatibor Voda 9 points
12. Rad 8 points
13. Mladost 8 points
14. OFK Beograd 6 points
15. Surdulica 6 points
16. Jagodina 3 points

(Photos: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

Tottenham Hotspur - FK Partizan 1:0 (UEFA Europa League)

We knew we had no chance to qualify for the next round of Europa League even before travelling to England, so the team arrived with no pressure on them. Therefore we played a great game. Our line-up was 4-3-3, Grbić was in the front line on the right side, Škuletić found himself in the middle.

Yet the first 5 minutes brought three (3) dangerous Tottenham chances. The first came in the 2nd minute, for our luck Soldado missed it. A minute later our defenders cleaned, then in the 5th minute Naughton had a too wide shot.

RTS’s speaker repeatedly called Tottenham's defender Vlad Chiriches "Hungarian". He even made it sure the great defender is the member of the Hungarian national team. Well, it's true, my miserable homeland's national team needs such class defenders as one needs water in the desert, but I doubt our brave neighbours in the East would get a laughing fit (including Chiriches) if they got to know such a "charge" was brought against their player. Don't take me wrong: all my respect goes to Romania and Romanian football, in the spirit of peaceful coexistence.

We had a short time meanwhile to find our breath, while a handful of Partizan fans made their voice heard (they were louder than the locals). In the 8th minute Tottenham attacked again, Ćirković headed the ball to corner.
In the 10th minute Grbić got the ball and ran up in the right side. He passed it to Škuletić, who missed it by being just one step behind... Two minutes later again Tottenham banged the door at Lukač’s home. Thankfully they were not allowed to enter. Then in the 15th minute again Grbić ran up, passed again to Škuletić, but this time defenders cleared the area.
In the 18th minute we got a free kick. The ball flew up and almost left the field through the base line, but Branko Ilić saved it.

He passed it back to the penalty area line, where Lazović has been waiting. He finally missed the chance.
In the 21st minute all we could see was someone kicking Ninković to the ground, then in the next moment Tottenham was in front of our goal line. Lamela kicked the ball into the middle, most probably to Soldado, but everyone was behind 1-2-3 steps, all Tottenham and Partizan players. (That was our luck, because if Soldado had been at his place, the result would have been 1:0 at this point.)
Then a fan ran into the field, all of a sudden. It was a big black man, one of the locals. He ran around the field, had a big grin on his face, made selfies with the players, playing hide-and-seek with security guards, who finally successfully push him off the grass.

Naughton is not impressed

Amazing. Okay, next. Ninković got the ball. Džigi ran up, slalomed himself through Tottenham’s half and made a huge kick to the goal from about 18 metres. Pity that Llorente was at his place.

Tottenham immediately started a counter-attack, Ćirković cleared again to corner.
In the 26th minute another fan ran into the field. He was also just running around, though he made no selfies. He still freaked Soldado out so much, that the Spanish forward grabbed the guy and pulled his shirt off. (He made no trouble about it, just continued to run around shirtless. Security guards pushed him off the grass, too.)

In the 28th minute again Škuletić had a great chance. He got the ball from Lazović, but Llorente saved.

At this point Tottenham was less in control of the game than earlier. Partizan broke out of the "bunker". In the 38th minute the home team was wandering around Partizan’s penalty area. Finally Stambouli sent a 20-metre shot to the goal line, Lukač had a great save. We immediately started a counter-attack, Ninković ran up and kicked a marvellous, 40-metre bomber. Llorente saved.
Then a third fan ran into the field.
The Ukrainian referee got fed up and sent the whole branch back to the locker-room, while security personnel threw themselves onto the funny guy and literally carried him off the grass. About 10 minutes later the game continued.

As I later got to know, these three self-appointed pranksters were paid for this trolling. They were all wearing similar shirts with the logo of a company that makes earphones. They even uploaded a video to Youtube about their adventure.

In the 45+8th minute Partizan got a corner. It made a big upheaval inside Tottenham's penalty area, finally it resulted a goal kick, meanwhile it seemed as Chiriches pulled Škuletić to the ground. Two minutes later Lazović had a shot flying above the goalpost, then in the last minute Lamela had a try, but Lukač saved.
At the beginning of the second half Tottenham got the lead. They were running up wild towards Partizan’s penalty area. First Soldado made a shot, but Lukač saved with a great movement. The ball dropped back to the penalty area. Stambouli grabbed it and kicked it into the empty net. 1:0

Two minutes later they ran up again on Partizan’s half. This time Stanković blocked their try, but Tottenham still owned the ball. Finally Lukač caught it and we could go for a counter-attack. Lazović got up to the home team’s penalty area, he even made a shot but missed.

In the 55th minute there were two dangerous scenes in front of Partizan’s goal line. Soldado made a shot (I don’t say it was not offside...), Lukač saved. The second attack came almost immediately. Volkov cleared it, kicking the ball out from almost the goal line, standing behind Partizan’s goalkeeper, who was lying on the ground. Three minutes later again Tottenham had a chance, Lamela made a distant shot, barely missed.

In the 68th minute once again Tottenham attacked. Again Lamela made a shot, it flew out above the goalpost. Immediate Partizan counter-attack, Grbić ran up almost to the base line and passed it to Živković. The midfielder shot, but the ball flew out near the goalpost.

In the 72nd minute Tottenham got a free kick, approx. 20 metres from our goal line. Lukač had a huge save, pushing the ball to corner. The incoming kick hit a player, Partizan’s goalkeeper saved again with a marvellous movement. Three minutes later we made a counter-attack (followed by Lukač running out for a shot with great pace). Grbić had the ball, running up and kicked, but missed.
In the 83rd minute it was almost 2:0, but the home player was on offside. Two minutes later we got a free kick. Volkov raised up to head the ball into Tottenham’s net. Lloris had a great save, Živković arrived out of the blue, but shot the ball on the side net.
In the 88th minute Tottenham missed a huge chance. (Average Fan didn’t really mind it.) Lukač ran out and saved Stambouli’s attack. The ball dropped right in front of Lamela, all doors and windows were open, but the Argentinian midfielder missed it.

Partizan bench

It was the very end, the 90+1st minute. Tottenham attacked again, making a huge upheaval inside Partizan’s penalty area. One of our defenders (I’m not sure if it was Volkov, Ćirković or someone else) tackled the attacker, who fell on the ground. Some complained for penalty, but the referee said no - the slow motion replay confirmed the referee’s decision. After all these Lukač performed one of the savings of his career, when Lamela sent the ball again to the goal. (Many thanks to Tottenham’s Argentinian player to give so many chances for Lukač to be able to show his class.)

Facts:

Venue: White Hart Lane, London
Number of spectators: 20 000
Referee: Yevhen Aranovskiy (assistants: Oleksandr Voytyuk, Oleksandr Komiyko - 4th assistant: Serhiy Bekker - goal line assistants: Serhiy Boiko, Anatoliy Abdula) - UKR

Tottenham Hotspur: Llorente - Naughton, Vertonghen, Chiriches, Davies - Stambouli, Dembele (Bentaleb, 56.) - Lennon, Paulinho (Winks, 87.), Lamela - Soldado (Kane, 66.)
Head coach: Mauricio Pochettino

FK Partizan: Lukač - B. Ilić, Ćirković, Stanković, Volkov - Ninković (A. Živković, 62.), Marković, S. Ilić (Marinković, 74.) - Lazović, Škuletić (Kojić, 78.), Grbić
Head coach: Marko Nikolić

Goal scorer: Stambouli (49.)
Yellow card: Stambouli (51.), Grbić (72.), B. Ilić (86.)

(photos: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

The football team arrived in Istanbul

They already had their first training there.

Still on the plane, still a bit sleepy

Big smile from Andrija Živković sitting between two slumbering teammates

Ćirković keeping himself fresh with daily news

In the stadium

Danko Lazović

Hard work

Lukač was taken even to the press conference

(photos: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

Photos from yesterday's eternal derby

There are a lot of them.

The boys are coming

Bench

Danko Lazović needed treatment after the first few minutes

Smoke-break in the first half

A Zvezda-player pressured by Drinčić and Lazović

Drinčić’s foot in a weird angle

Grave Diggers holding a flag with the face of a fan from the opponents - this young man was discovered several days ago at the Belgrade Gay Pride (his photo wearing a "Delije" T-shirt was seen all around the Serbian internet)

Ćirković in action

Branko Ilić deactivating a Zvezda-player

"See, Mr. Assistant, we call this a ball. Do you understand? I repeat it again, slowly. B-A-L-L."

"No, I think he didn’t understand."

Saša Ilić

"Mr. Referee, it’s not my fault that your assistant doesn’t speak our language"

Drinčić runs up, Grbić is assisting

Now it’s Grbić’s turn

The whole bench is on their feet

Ćirković blocking Jović

This photo doesn’t even require any further comment

Milan Lukač, the embodiment of reliability

Around the end of the first half Kovačević grabbed Grbić’s foot while falling on the ground. His attempt was clearly to pull the midfielder off with himself. His plan failed, but he got no yellow card either.

Da Boss

Grbić in action

Petar Škuletić, Ace Worker of FK Partizan

Škuletić and Rajković facing each other

Stanković puts his tongue out while focusing

Air wrestling between Škuletić and Pavićević

Andrija Živković

Smoke-pause in the second half

Saša Ilić comes off the field

Lazović trying to keep a Zvezda-player away from the ball

Grobari

Drinčić struggling with back pains, Ćirković trying to comfort him

This is the end: celebration

Happy Vladimir Volkov

Zvonko Varga celebrating

Priceless :)

"Fuck yes" - Vladimir Volkov

Živko Živković truly deserves celebrating, too

High five: Zvonko Varga and Saša Marković

Daily cute: Pantić was celebrating with this little girl

Together with fans

MC Volkov

Lazović and Fofana

The Boss carried by Fofana and Volkov

Škuletić grabs the chance (and the mic)

Then celebration continued in the locker room

What is this...

...I don’t even...

If these are the so-called "public" images, what are the "non-public" like?...

There's video, too, where you can see that this "Saša Ilić goes to heaven"-idea comes originally from Fofana.

The best is yet to come - messages of former teammates and brothers-in-arms.

Bravo crno beli 😄 http://t.co/bRjmyWvr85
— Joffrey Lauvergne (@1JOLOLO) October 18, 2014

Bravo @FKPartizanBG !!! #CrnoBeliPorodica
— Westermann Léo (@lwestermann) October 18, 2014

Bravo Crno Beli :))))) Bravo Nikola!!!
— Lazar Markovic (@LMarkec50) October 18, 2014

(all photos: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)