Radnički Niš - FK Partizan 0:2 (superliga, round 28)

I’m here, still alive. So is the blog. In the past weeks I either had no energy to post or I was sick, but I keep on trying to update it as regularly as I can.
Okay. Enough of private life. Let’s see the game.
We had an "in medias res" start and attacked Radnički so hard from the very first minute, that they had to work overtime to find their breath. Already in the 4th minute we had a free kick, Janković shot, it was too high. A minute later came Everton and his (also too high) shot. In the 8th minute Tawamba crossed the ball to the middle, Đurđević made some magic (dribbling all around), but he was tackled. Three minutes later Janković’s cross arrived, Leonardo got it, all doors and windows were open, but he was blocked by defenders, and it was also flag up. And so on. We continuously attacked in the first 20 minutes, we didn’t allow the home team even to collapse for the lack of oxygen. There was a suspicious scene in the 22nd minute, Janković fell on the ground inside the penalty area of Radnički. The referee whistled, but not for penalty, instead he gave a yellow card to Janković for acting.

Volkov and Janković. Volkov is still a damn good player, may the Almighty collapse the sky to all the imbecile idiots in Partizan’s leadership for not running head over heels to sign Volkov - and Kojić - back to Partizan, instead they let them sign to Radnički

Then the pace slowed down a bit, but Partizan still controlled the game. In the 31st minute we got a free kick. Leonardo shot it to the box, the goalkeeper had a great save. In the 35th minute Đurđević was dribbling in the penalty area, the goalkeeper saved in the last minute, ending the attempt with a corner kick. Radnički’s first chance to mention was in the 37th minute. Travančić ran up with the ball, dribbled himself through Ostojić, then shot, barely missing the box. Two minutes later Kojić

aaaaarrrggghhhh, it was terrible to see him and Volkov not wearing Partizan’s jersey

crossed to Stojanović. Stojanović shot, it was saved to corner kick. Finally in the 41st minute Radnički had a counter-attack, again Travančić ran up, he shot, it was too wide.

Grave Diggers

In the second half we continued our "attack continuously"-tactics, possessing the ball, the goal was visibly around the corner for us. We had two huge chances in a row, Đurđević shot (and missed) both, first in the 47th minute, when the goalkeeper saved in the last moment, then a minute later he was dribbling and dribbling, then shot, Average Fan almost screamed "GOAAALLL", but instead the ball hit the side net.

Seriously, he missed the box with half a millimetre only. I will have to have a defibrillator at hand for such cases. I’m getting too old for this.

In the 51st minute Kojić missed a shot with millimetres.

Other than this Radnički had no mentionable action in the second half. Kljajić surely got bored to death in the box. Hopefully he had at least some crossword puzzles with himself or something.

Two minutes later Volkov saved from Tawamba in the last minute.

Tawamba was slowly turning into Bojinov. Don’t take me wrong, I like this Cameroonian guy a lot - he is much more likeable than the Bulgarian -, but it was Bojinov who made so much missed-out-barely attempts like Tawamba at this game. I hope though Tawamba will score goals. A lot of goals. 

We attacked, though we started to get more and more tensed. It was a very hard job to break through Radnički’s defense line - well, if Volkov is in the defense line, you can’t break through even with a tank - the home players were ruthless, sometimes on the verge of being unsportsmanlike. Then finally came the 69th minute. Janković crossed from the left, Ostojić pushed it with the head, Đurđević got it, shot and scored. And I’d bet on anything that Volkov let the ball go, just a little bit. Nevertheless a big high five to him. A Grave Digger will always be a Grave Digger. 0:1

Post-goal celebration. Deep in the mass of players you will find Đurđević somewhere

The pace slowed down after the goal. There were barely any attempts, and even those were all missed out. The game was fragmented. The only scene to mention was when Kojić - after he collided with Ostojić and fell on the ground with a painful scream - yelled off the referee, and I don’t say that Kojić was wrong. (The scene happened right at an ambience microphone, everything could be heard clearly.) Then it was already the extra time, everyone was wating for the final whistle, everyone calmed down knowing we made it, when Leonardo got a pass from Kosović and shot it right there. The distance was at least 35 metres (some sources talk about 40), it was visible on the shot that Leonardo probably didn’t mean it too seriously. Yet the ball fell into the net. WHAT A GOAL, WHAT AN AMAZING GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLL!!!!! 0:2

A well-deserved celebration

These images were made after the game. I have no idea where Tawamba got these sunglasses from, but they were surely great to wear in the reflectors’ light (or not)

"Svi kao jedan"

Highlights:

Facts:

Venue: Stadium Čair, Niš
Number of spectators: 8000
Official: Lazar Lukić (assistants: Milan Mihajlović, Dragan Bogićević - 4th official: Danilo Grujić)

Radnički Niš: Zogović, Volkov, Živković, Stojanović, Travančić (Apostolović, 74.), Arsić, Petrović, Tomić, Noma (Mrkić, 68.), Kojić (Jovanović, 90.), Perendija
Head coach: Milan Rastavac

FK Partizan: Kljajić, Vulićević, Ostojić, Milenković, Miletić, Jevtović (Kosović, 65.), Everton, Janković, Leonardo (Đuričković, 90+3.), Đurđević (Radin, 90+3.), Tawamba
Head coach: Marko Nikolić

Goal scorers: Đurđević (69.), Leonardo (90+2.)
Yellow card: Janković (22.), Perendija (43.), Milenković (45+1.), Volkov (78.), Kojić (86.)

Current championship standings:
1. CZ 73 points
2. FK Partizan 67 points
3. Vojvodina 57 points
4. Napredak 46 points
5. Mladost 44 points
6. Radnički Niš 43 points
7. FK Voždovac 40 points
8. FK Javor 39 points
9. FK Spartak 37 points
10. Čukarički 36 points
11. Rad 32 points
12. Metalac 26 points
13. Radnik 24 points
14. OFK Bačka 24 points
15. Novi Pazar 20 points
16. Borac 18 points

(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)

Radnički Niš - FK Partizan 1:0 (superliga, round 36 - play-off, round 6)

A photo leaked out soon before the game about the (alleged) new jersey of the football team for the 2016/17 season. It’s surely not official yet, as there’s no track of it at Partizan’s homepage, so if you haven’t seen it yet, you get the chance now.

(photo: sportskacentrala.com)

It’s rather minimalist in style, but all is clearly visible that is important.
Like the Nike-logo.

Is it just me with failing memory, or was it really Umbro mentioned earlier as Partizan’s official technical sponsor from next season?

But neither this minimalist Nike-jersey, nor the fact we stood up against Radnički with a reserved team can be an excuse for our terrible performance.

Our goalkeeper this time was young Marko Jovičić

Last group hug before kick-off

(photos: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

The first chance came in the 3rd minute after a corner kick. Lukić kicked it, the defenders wanted to clear it downfield, but the ball dropped to Bojinov. He shot, right onto the side net. He had another try in the 9th minute from the distance, about 25-30 metres, but it was so high that the ball almost flew out of the stadium.

We did not have a heavy start, to say the least.

In the 11th minute Radnički got a free kick about 40 metres from the box on the right side. Our defenders cleared the area, but the ball dropped back to the home team. Jovanović grabbed it, he shot, it was just a bit too high. In the 15th minute it was again their turn with a corner kick. This time Bulatović headed it towards the box, his attempt was also too high.
Then nothing happened for long... Our attempts - if we had any at all... - were blocked by Radnički-defenders. Both teams fumbled a lot, with almost no attempt or shoot on target.
Okay, there was one in the 20th minute. Marjanović sent a very weak shot to our box from the left, Jovičić easily caught it.
Other than this the one and only thing to mention was that it started to rain heavily around the 30th minute with strong wind. The noise of raindrops could be heard even through the stream.
Radnički attacked more. There was a period when we got stuck in our half. We could break out around the 33rd minute with a corner-kick, but we couldn’t squeeze an useful attempt out of it.
Then in the 40th minute Marjanović got a long pass on the left. He let the ball drop one in front of him on the wet grass, then he kicked it into the net. 1:0
There was one attempt left in the last minute of the first half. Đuričković had an Oxford trick then crossed the ball into the middle from left. Marjanović headed it towards the box, but it was too wide.

Grumpy, soaky wet Partizan-fans. Has anyone noticed that there were no Partizan-banners or flags on the stands? Radnički-fans had huge flags, banners, even pyrotechnics, but the guests’ tribune was bare

This was probably the only Partizan-relics on the tribunes

(photos: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

The second half was not better at all than the first. At the beginning the home team had a corner kick, Bandalovski cleared, but it was dangerous. Radnički used the tactics of full pitch press. They spent much more time on our half than we on theirs. Well, let’s make it clear, we had no useful attacks at all. Well, we didn’t have any attack at all. We could get to their penalty area in the 58th minute first, but Bandalovski was tackled. A minute later Radnički got a corner kick, but they kicked the ball on the side net.

Our passes were painfully imprecise. Boys, for God’s sake, please, practice these short, precise kicks, because this was a tragedy!...

In the 64th minute we had a cross to the goalmouth, but the goalkeeper easily caught it.
In the 68th minute we got a free kick about 40 metres from the goal line. Lukić kicked, the defenders headed it downfield. Bogosavac sent it back to the goalmouth, there Gogoua attempted, but the goalkeeper was faster.
In the 71st minute Golubović arrived on the right with the ball. He crossed it to the middle, but Vlahović had a very imprecise attempt, the chance was missed out.
In the 74th minute Radnički got a free kick. Mrkić barely missed the cross. (And thanks to his missed attempt the result was still 1:0.)

Gogoua almost made me cry several times. In one moment he was like a bastillon in the defense line. Then in the next he had such imprecise passes that were a physical pain to watch.

Radnički possessed the ball more and practically kept the game under control. They were combative and got into man-to-man clashes for the ball.

Though it wasn’t really necessary, as our performance was as indisposed as possible.

In the 83rd minute Radnički put our goalmouth under heavy pressure. Finally Apostolović shot, Jovičić saved.
Radnički got a free kick in the 85th  minute, almost at the half line. Marjanović wasted no time, he sent this almost 50-metre-long cannon shot to our box, but thankfully he kicked it into Jovičić’s lap instead.
Our first actual attempt in the second half was in the 87th (!!!) minute. Stevanović got a great pass and immediately crossed it to the middle. Vlahović missed it with just one step, the ball rolled through the goalmouth and eventually out of the field through the baseline.
In the 88th minute a throw-in by Radnički arrived from the left. A home player forwarded it to Đuričković. He headed it to the box, it was too high. Not much later Bulatović had an attempt, that was also too high. Then Radnički again made heavy pressure to our box. Jovanović dribbled, then Mrkić got the ball. He shot, the ball hit the goalpost, and in the meantime it was flag up for offside, the referee whistled it off.
We had one attempt at the very end. Stevanović’s shot was cleared downfield, then the ball dropped to Everton. The Brazilian performed the world’s most painful and probably most imprecise shot ever. (It was way too high, too.)

When a photo says more than 1000 words. Nebojša Kosović after the final whistle

(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

Highlights:

Facts:

Venue: Čair stadium, Niš
Number of spectators: 4000
Referee: Milorad Mažić (assistants: Milovan Ristić, Dalibor Đurđević - 4th assistant: Nemanja Petrović - goal line assistants: Danilo Grujić, Nenad Đokić)

Radnički Niš: S. Jovanović - Petrović, R. Bulatović, Lakić-Pešić, D. Bulatović - Tomić, A. Jovanović - Đuričković, Apostolović (Todorović, 85.), Marjanović - Mrkić (Mitrović, 90.)
Head coach: Milan Rastavac

FK Partizan: Jovičić - Bandalovski - Gogoua, Milenković, Bogosavac - Lukić, Everton, Kosović - Golubovć, Bojinov (Vlahović, 64.), A. Stevanović
Head coach: Ivan Tomić

Goal scorer: Marjanović (40.)
Yellow card: Bojinov (50.), Lakić-Pešić (51.), Gogoua (86.)

Current standing of the play-off:
1. CZ 48 points
2. Partizan 37 points
3. Vojvodina 36 points
4. Čukarički 36 points
5. Radnički Niš 35 points
6. Borac 29 points
7. Surdulica 25 points
8. FK Voždovac 24 points

Radnički Niš - FK Partizan 0:1 (superliga, round 25)

90 minutes of wrestling interrupted with some football. Lots of fouls, tensed players and fumbling referee.
Eh, never mind. We won.

Group hug before kick-off

Radnički had a tough start. Already in the 3rd minute a cross came from the right by them. Gogoua blocked. A minute later they got a free kick on the left, almost at the sideline. The cross came, but it was too high.
Our first attempt was in the 6th minute. Brašanac was in the middle with the ball, he shot, the goalkeeper had a big save.
Radnički kept us under heavy pressure. They fought, they were brave and (for this reason) the game was going mostly on our half in the first minutes. We could make a counter-attack in the 11th minute. Saša Ilić passed to Stevanović. Stevanović shot, it was too high. Another minute later again Stevanović possessed the ball. He passed it ahead to Saša Ilić, but the defenders were faster. Then, after a corner-kick Mihajlović grabbed the ball. He shot, goalkeeper Jovanović saved.
Then the pace slowed down - it wasn’t too fast by default. Even at this point it was obvious this game will bring a lot of struggles and sweat.
Radnički missed out a great chance in the 26th minute. A cross came from the right, Marjanović kicked into the air instead of the ball, then Mrkić performed some weird attempt. Šaranov jumped and caught the ball, he could barely keep it outside the goal line. In the next minute Radnički got a free kick far away from the goal, at least 35 metres. Apostolović shot, it was too wide.
All I could see in the 28th minute that the home team players complain very heavily for something at the assistant

I got to know later that it was the alleged handball-playing of Saša Ilić behind their anger as well as the referee giving a free kick to Partizan after that

nevertheless Mihajlović walked there to perform the kick (approx. 25 metres on the right, almost at the corner flag), the defenders headed it downfield. Then for some reason hell broke loose, someone kicked Kosović to the ground, Saša Ilić complained, players almost got into a fight. The referee wasn’t really on top, he didn’t do much to calm down the tension.
In the 31st minute Radnički missed out another chance. Apostolović got a pass from Đuričković, finally Šaranov had a great save.
The atmosphere got more and more tensed. Radnički was pressuring us hard, they wanted a goal by all means. Players kicked each other to the ground, the referee gave out two yellow cards to the home team within a minute. Then we got a free kick in the 38th minute, almost at the left sideline. Mihajlović crossed, Brašanac headed it, but it was too wide.
In the 42nd minute after long pinballing and fumbling Mihajlović got the ball inside Radnički’s penalty area. He was right in the goalmouth, he shot, it was too high.
In the last minute Saša Ilić passed to Kosović to the middle, but the young midfielder was tackled. The ball rolled to Bandalovski, he tried with an attempt, but the goalkeeper saved.

Saša Ilić some time during the game

In the halftime I had to make myself a cup of coffee. I didn’t want to fall asleep for the second half, though the game was boring enough to make it possible.

In the second half we had great luck right in the beginning that the referee didn’t give a penalty to Radnički after Everton Luiz clashed with their captain inside our penalty area. Yet as the consequence of the clash Everton stayed on the ground, the medical attendants had to pick his pieces together. He couldn’t continue the game. Later he was seen with a big pack of ice on his knee, leaning on two people.

Honestly? I won’t cry if Everton has to miss out a few weeks. He is like a wild boar on the field - kicking into everyone from the opponent, provoking them, makes a lot of fouls and collects too many yellow cards - plus he does no useful action either.

In the 52nd minute Mrkić suddenly attacked. He left our defenders behind and ran up to our goalmouth. Jovanović blocked him in the last moment.
In the 60th minute Bogosavac ran up with the ball and passed to Mihajlović in the middle. Mihajlović passed backwards to Saša Ilić with a fantastic movement. The Captain shot from 16 metres with a dream-alike kick and scored!!! GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAL and the goal scorer is not else than SAŠA ILIĆ!!!

Mihajlović passes, Saša Ilić shoots

Jedan je Ilić Kapiten

Then nothing happened for quite a while. Only wrestling, upheavals, scrambles, and absolutely no attempt or chance. Finally in the 75th minute Radnički got a free kick 25 metres from our goal line. Đuričković shot, too high.
In the 77th minute Bogosavac stopped the ball with his hand, near our penalty area

he was lucky enough to get only a yellow card, though if the referee is a bit more strict, he could have sent Bogosavac off the field, because Radnički attacked and Bogosavac was the last defender

finally the home team got a free kick. It was 20-22 metres from our goal line. Đuričković shot, but the ball hit the wall. Players fought hard for the ball, finally one Partizan-defender kicked it downfield.

Stevanović broke the remaining of my nerves. This guy reminds me more and more of Babović, being the same fumbling and talentless. Thankfully though he doesn’t like to be in spotlight as much as Babirlo - as much that sometimes he disappears for long minutes, as if he was absent.

At this point the game was just awful. Too many fouls and mistakes, just too many. In the last 10 minutes Radnički attacked very hard. In the 83rd minute Šaranov saved a 40-metre free kick by them, a minute later Marjanović shot the ball on our goal line after long pinballing in the goalmouth. Šaranov had a HUGE save.
In the 87th minute Petrović tried with a shot, it was too wide. Finally in the 90+3rd minute Vlahović passed to Stevanović. Stevanović ran up, but the goalkeeper caught his shot.

It was time for a victory

High five with fans

Highlights:

Facts:

Venue: Čair stadium, Niš
Number of spectators: 7000
Referee: Aleksandar Vasić (assistants: Dejan Petrović, Dejan Potočan - 4th assistant: Darko Savović - goal line assistants: Majo Vujović, Róbert Kis-Csepegi)

Radnički Niš: Aleksandar I. Jovanović - Petrović, R. Bulatović, Lakić-Pešić, D. Bulatović - Bogdanović (Aleksa Jovanović, 86.), Aleksandar II. Jovanović - Đuričković, Apostolović (Todorović 62.), Marjanović - Mrkić
Head coach: Milan Rastavac

FK Partizan: Šaranov - Bandalovski, M. Jovanović, Gogoua, Bogosavac - Brašanac, Everton Luiz (Jevtović, 49.), Kosović - Stevanović, Saša Ilić (Vlahović, 85.), Mihajlović (Golubović, 81.)
Head coach: Ivan Tomić

Goal scorer: Saša Ilić (60.)
Yellow card: R. Bulatović (33.), Đuričković (34.), M. Jovanović (56.), Gogoua (58.), Jevtović (74.), Bogosavac (77.), Brašanac (79.), Aleksandar I. Jovanović (90+1.)

Current championship standings:
1. CZ 71 points
2. Borac 42 points
3. Čukarički 41 points
4. Partizan 39 points
5. Radnički Niš 38 points
6. Vojvodina 38 points
7. FK Voždovac 36 points
8. Javor 31 points
9. Mladost 31 points
10. Surdulica 31 points
11. Metalac 27 points
12. Novi Pazar 26 points
13. OFK Beograd 23 points
14. Jagodina 22 points
15. Rad 20 points
16. Spartak Zlatibor Voda 20 points

(photos: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

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)

FK Partizan - Radnički Niš 0:0 (Jelen SuperLiga, Round 10)

Tragic.
It was tragic. There’s no better word or expression for this.
We played terrible and we couldn’t score one single goal against a team that was almost dropped out of the superliga in the previous season. With this draw we are 3rd on the league table, while the red team is on the 1st place, leading with more than 10 points (!!!) of difference. And we haven’t reached even the half of the season.
The stadium in ul. Humska was utterly deserted. There were only 3000 spectators at the game.

20 minutes before the match. There are only a few fans in the southern tribune.

The sad view of the eastern tribune soon before kick-off

(photos: Twitter)

Nothing much happened in the first 10 minutes. The two teams clashed with great elan. There was only one mentionable scene in the 6th minute. Lukić got the ball on the right side. He dribbled and passed to Brašanac. Brašanac forwarded to Aboubakar, who shot, but the attempt ended in a corner kick.
In the 11th minute again Lukić ran up on the right side

please, someone, tell me, why must such a talented kid get molded on the bench?...

passed to Brašanac in the middle. Brašanac again forwarded the ball to Aboubakar. Aboubakar shot, too high.

(photo: hotsport.rs)

Still in the same minute Andrija Živković dribbled himself through the defense line and passed to Brašanac. The defenders were quicker though than Partizan’s midfielder, but the ball dropped back to Andrija Živković. Žile shot, the goalkeeper caught it.
In the 12th minute Radnički got a free kick. Bogdanović stood behind the ball, shot, but it was too high.
In the 18th minute, after another Radnički free kick the ball was kicked to our goalmouth from the left. Živko Živković jumped up to save, but he caught only the shadow of the ball

I almost got a cardial arrest

Radnički-players wanted to grab the ball. They shot, but for our great luck they kicked the ball on the side-net. We immediately started a counter-attack. Bojinov shot, the goalkeeper saved.

(photo: hotsport.rs)

In the 21st minute we got a free kick on the right side. Andrija Živković shot it to the middle, the goalkeeper caught it. In the 28th minute again he possessed the ball, shooting from the right side, but the ball flew over in front of the goal line.
Both teams ran a lot and fought a lot, but they barely had any attempts. Then in the 32nd minute the guest team attacked from the right. Blažić kicked the ball to Apostolović. Apostolović shot, it was too high. Two minutes later Andrija Živković was dribbling in the middle, then passed to Lukić Lukić sent the ball to Aboubakar on the other side, but a defender was quicker.
In the 37th minute Bogdanović sent a distant shot to our goal, Živko Živković easily saved it. A minute later Bojinov got the ball after a throw-in. He shot, Radnički’s goalkeeper performed the saving of his life. In the 39th minute Leković passed to Lukić. Lukić shot from 17 metres, the goalkeeper saved.
In the meantime Grave Diggers made wildfire on the southern front, it was much more spectacular than the game itself.

(photo: Twitter)

In the 43rd minute Bandalovski ran up on the right side. At the penalty area two defenders made a "sandwich" of him. The Bulgarian player fell on the ground. Free kick. Andrija Živković stood behind the ball. He kicked it into the goalmouth, the goalkeeper pushed it out.

For the second half the stream collapsed. The only one that could be found was without commentarie. For this reason my informations about who shot, who passed, who attacked are not fully complete. I try to put the pieces of this puzzle together by different match reports.

In the 47th minute we attacked from the left, but the ball was caught by goalkeeper Jovanović. A minute later we attacked again. Brašanac got the ball, but he shot it on the side-net.
In the 50th minute Andrija Živković ran up in the middle. He dribbled himself through the defenders’ line. One of them tackled him, but he grabbed the ball back. He forwarded it to Brašanac, but for him it was too long. Goal-kick.
In the 54th minute we attacked from the middle. Aboubakar got the ball, he shot, but missed. Two minutes later Radnički attacked from the right. Partizan’s defenders headed the ball out, but it dropped right in front of Zemlianukhin. He shot, but it was too high. We started a counter-attack, Aboubakar shot from 17 metres, the goalkeeper saved. We were still in the 56th minute, Andrija Živković dribbled, then shot to the goalmouth, a defender interrupted the attempt, ending it in a corner kick.
In the 61st minute Radnički’s attack arrived from the left. Zemlianuhin shot, it was too wide.

Meanwhile the powerfulness of our attacks were equal to a butterfly fart.

In the 64th minute Šaponjić sent a powerful shot to the goal from the left, goalkeeper Jovanović saved it with his leg. The ball dropped back to the goalmouth, in front of Leković. He also tried, but the attempt died in the defenders’ ring.
In the 70th minute Bulatović

don’t ask me which one of them

shot from the left, right on the side-net. In the 74th minute we got a free kick, 17 metres from the goal line. Andrija Živković shot, the goalkeeper saved. They immediately started a counter-attack on the right side. It was dangerous, our defense line cleared the area.
In the 77th minute Blažić sent a powerful shot to our goal from the middle. Živko Živković saved. We started a counter-attack, but Stevanović was pushed to the ground at the penalty area. The referee didn’t whistle.
At this point we got a row of corner kicks, but we couldn’t push the ball into the net. Radnički was stuck in their goalmouth, but we just couldn’t break their defense. I swear, after a while they were making fun of us sweeping the ball out for corner kick. Fans were booing, demanding the discharge of head coach Zoran Milinković. Finally Leković sent a distant, flat shot on the goal line in the 85th minute - if it was a joke, then it was terrible, if it was serious, then... then let’s just go home and re-start it all from scratch.
In the 90th minute Šaponjić got the ball on the left side, but his shot was not powerful enough. Our last attempt was in the 90+4th minute, Stevanović’s shot rolled over in front of the goal.
After the final whistle 3000 angry fans were shouting UPRAVA NAPOLJE.

Tragedy. Partizan should kill Europe and dance on their graves. Instead we are struggling breathlessly during 90 minutes. We became a mediocre team. This is an outrage. While those who are responsible for this all just scratch their fat asses and talk beside the point.

Saša Ilić after the match. His expression says more than a thousand words

(photo: Twitter)

Bandalovski isn’t happy either

(photo: hotsport.rs)

Facts:

Venue: Partizan Stadion, Belgrade
Number of spectators: 3000
Referee: Dejan Dimitrijević (assistants: Vladimir Jovanović, Marko Dimitrijević - 4th assistant: Vukan Gordić - goal line assistants: Bojan Nikolić, Novica Anđelovski)

FK Partizan: Ž. Živković - Bandalovski, Balažic, Fabricio, Leković - Lukić (S. Ilić, 55.), Jevtović, Brašanac - A. Živković, Bojinov (Šaponjić, 61.), Aboubakar (Stevanović, 74.)
Head coach: Zoran Milinković

Radnički Niš: Jovanović - Petrović (Đorđević, 55.), R. Bulatović, Lakić-Pešić, D. Bulatović - Marjanović, Apostolović (Tomić, 67.), Bogdanović - Blažić, Ašćerić - Zemlianukhin (Mrkić, 90+2.)
Head coach: Milan Rastavac

Yellow card: Brašanac (18.), Petrović (24.), Marjanović (35.), Leković (53.), Bogdanović (66.), Balažic (90.)

Current championship standings:

1. Crvena Zvezda 26 points
2. Javor 20 points
3. Partizan 16 points
4. Vojvodina 16 points
5. Čukarički 15 points
6. Borac 15 points
7. Radnički Niš 15 points
8. Novi Pazar 15 points
9. Rad 12 points
10. Spartak Zlatibor Voda 11 points
11. FK Voždovac 10 points
12. Metalac 10 points
13. Mladost 10 points
14. Surdulica 7 points
15. OFK Beograd 6 points
16. Jagodina 6 points