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 team has arrived in London

Tomorrow Partizan plays with Tottenham in Europa League, the boys travelled to London today.

Still at Nikola Tesla airport; because posing with the Christmas tree is a MUST

Meanwhile we got to know, Lukač is not just an excellent goalkeeper, but waiter as well

Checking in

Živković and Stevanović have a great mood, Petrović in the background has put himself into standby mode

At Heathrow: Kojić is playing on his phone, Ninković’s facial expression is priceless

Everyone got to know the team have landed safe

Happy

Determination and optimism

(photos: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

Photos from yesterday's match

I brought you some images about yesterday's match against Tottenham Hotspur. All of them are from Partizan's Facebook-page.

Photos about the banner covering the southern tribune

Grbić in the role of "steam roller"

Trainers

Ballet Pantić-style

Danilo Pantić in action

...and he keeps the ball

The Boss

Grbić was faster than Tottenham’s player

Luka got just 5 minutes, but he used it well

One of Lukač’s great saves

Here he is punching the ball out of the penalty area

Saša Marković and Nemanja Petrović

High five to Grbić after he came off the field

Ćirković did a good job

Stanković passes the ball back to Lukač

Townsend’s free kick

Grobari

Fans

Volkov is wrestling with a player from the opponent

Vulićević vs. Townsend

Vulićević escapes with the ball

Partizan published an official statement dissociating themselves from the racist, anti-Semitistic banner of yesterday. UEFA in the meantime started the process against the team. If there is any news concerning this process, the blog will be updated immediately.

Update:
UEFA will decide about the consequences of the racist banner on 3rd October. Yet it seems so, Partizan must deal with more issues as well, just as fans throwing firecrackers during the match or the fan who rushed on the field after the final whistle.

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

The atmosphere was great even before match. The southern sector was covered with this banner:

On the tribune fence the banner says: Danas je dan da budeš velikan. In English: This is the day when you become great.
Tottenham earned a corner already in the 2nd minute. Lukač made a huge save, the ball hit the goalpost, from there it dropped back among players, but the linesman waved offside in the meantime.
A minute later Partizan led a counter-attack. Volkov was tackled in a not too friendly way, the free kick was headed out by the defenders of the English team. Volkow was pretty much the target of opponent players anyway, he got an elbow into his face in the 4th minute. While he was laying on the field with a painful grimace, Tottenham attacked (the referee didn’t whistle after this foul), but Lukač was at the right place.
The thing is, Partizan showed a great attitude from the very beginning. They played bravely, defenders blocked very well, they tackled the attacking players breaking into great runs, and they rushed up with the ball to Tottenham’s goal line. It was an excellent, exciting match with great pace, numerous Partizan-players had movements of class player level. As if the team had waited for this moment, to show their "lion claws".
Tottenham was puzzled. That’s the truth. They kept on passing the ball to each other, mostly on their own half. Partizan’s players were at everywhere, opponent players rather passed the ball back to the defenders, having no other options, and the ball many times ended at their goalkeeper.
The atmosphere was marvellous.

After 15 minutes came a great Partizan-attack. The shot arrived from the right side, Grbić thanked it and started to dribble in Tottenham’s penalty area. Then passed it to Lazović, whose shot was blocked by defenders. A minute later again came a very spectacular Partizan-chance, again blocked by defenders. In the 19th minute Volkov cleared the area with a fantastic movement.

Match action: Stanković fighting with Tottenham-players

Tottenham was still puzzled. They had a try in the 22nd minute, but the home defense line "rolled down the shutters".

Match action: Branko Ilić was one of the strong men of Partizan’s defense

A minute later the guests again had a weak try. They tried to shoot from the right side, from a very sharp angle, but the ball just flew to the left side of the goal.
It was clear, Tottenham had a much better ball possession than Partizan, but they didn’t really use this chance for their own benefit. There was barely any action, and even if there was some, Partizan defenders blocked it. They passed the ball to each other without showing any ideas, and even if they found a gap where an attacker could sneak in, he instantly got at least two defenders in the face.
The 25th minute brought a great chance. After a throw-in Lazović got the ball. The striker took it and wanted to bombard Tottenham’s net from 4 metres, but again the ball got stuck on a defender.
In the 27th minute the ball got to corner from Ćirković - for whom it was the 1st match in Partizan’s jersey - but Lukač deactivated it, just like two minutes later, when he punched another Tottenham-corner out of the penalty area.
In the 30th minute Partizan attacked again. Grbić came up on the right side and gave the ball to Saša Ilić. The team captain headed the ball towards the goal line, but it flew out above the goalpost.
In the meantime the atmosphere was high in the skies.

The game was going on mostly in the midfield. Tottenham still couldn’t do anything with Partizan’s blocking, Grbić was enthusiastic to make the opponent feel uncomfortable, stealing the ball, running up, tackling, saving, passing, running, he made a great job. Meanwhile both Volkov and Drinčić was a punching bag for opponent players, one of them was almost always on the ground. Pantić could show his talent.

Match action: Danilo Pantić

The 43rd minute brought some sort of attack by Tottenham, but the too far shot ended in Lukač’s hands. The last minute was still good for a great chance. After saving a Tottenham-corner Lukač passed the ball to Saša Ilić. He gave it to Pantić, the young midfielder ran up all alone to Lloris’s place, with only one defender behind him, who was clearly scared to death. The shot was saved by the French goalkeeper.

In the 2nd half Partizan got a free kick after 2 minutes, after Grbić got to the ground. (Davis even got a yellow card for it.) The free kick was placed just a few steps from the line, almost at the corner flag. Drinčić shot it, but the goalkeeper punched it out.
In the 50th minute Lazović got again a chance, but defenders blocked his action. A minute later Grbić repeated it. In the 56th minute Drinčić sent a too high shot to the goal, and the upcoming minutes brought only the excitement of Branko Ilić’s yellow card.
In the 61st minute Partizan again had a great chance. Lazović put himself to action again, but the linesman was again waving offside.

Match action: Saša Ilić facepalms, perhaps after a missed chance

In this half Partizan possessed the ball much more than Tottenham and attacked more. If Tottenham had any actions, they were all blocked by defenders, or the striker missed the ball with just one small step, like in the 62nd minute.
The upcoming approx. 10 minutes brought again puzzled ball-passing by Tottenham, a Lazović-offside and a missed chance, again by him. Then in the 72nd minute Partizan got a corner. It brought a short, but rather uncomfortable chaos inside Tottenham’s penalty area, finally Pantić headed the ball too high.
Partizan got the grip. Great teamwork, brave attacks and tackles, self-confident playing. The 77th minute brought again a chance, Pantić kept the ball very well and passed it to Vulićević. He gave it to Saša Ilić who headed it above the goalpost.
In the 80th minute Lukač saved a dangerous, left-side shot with a great movement.
The rest of the game didn’t bring any more excitement. Partizan mobilized their "energy for emergency times", Tottenham tried their best not to get any goal until the final whistle.

The facts:

Location: Partizan Stadium
Number of spectators: 20 000
Referee: Alon Yefet (linesmen: Amihay Yehoshua, Mahmud, Mahagna - substitute referee: Yehiel Levi Haluba - goal referees: Eli Hacmon, Ziv Adler) - ISR

FK Partizan: Lukač - Vulićević, B. Ilić, Stanković, Ćirković (Marković, 68.) - Volkov (Petrović, 54.), Grbić (Luka, 85.), Drinčić, S. Ilić, Pantić - Lazović
Head coach: Marko Nikolić

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris - Naughton, Fazio, Vertonghen, Davies - Lennon, Bentaleb, Paulinho (Soldado, 60.), Stambouli (Capoue, 72.), Townsend (Lamela, 59.) - Kane
Head coach: Mauricio Pochettino

Yellow card: Townsend (34.), Davies (48.), B. Ilić (59.), Luka (86.)

And there is something else...
This.

(photo: dailymail.co.uk)

This banner appeared in one of the hidden corners of the southern tribune and was kept there for the whole match. It wasn‘t big, just a relatively smaller one, but it had so strong colours that it wasn’t hard to spot it.
I do not have to get into details what it is and what it means. I also don’t have to get into details about what it will mean for Partizan, because UEFA surely won’t pat the head of the team for this.

You, who did it, made it, put it out, waved it,
You are not a fan.
You are not a Grave Digger. You can show off with your scarf, your match tickets, your tattoos, your so-called friends, they do not matter at all.
You are NOT a Partizan-fan.
Yet you left me and a few thousand other Partizan fans in shame.
Because your idiotism bring Partizan a big punishment from UEFA and we can be thankful if it is "only" a money fee or a match behind closed gates, and we won’t be kicked out from Europa League. Because you made Partizan and all their fans look like Europe’s black sheeps, the "rotten, lousy Balkans" whom Europe hates and disdains. You and your asshole friends made it, who thought it would be such a great fun.
You are not a Partizan fan. You are not a Grave Digger.
But I hope your grave has been dug.
One more thought: the opponent’s trainer, Pochettino was praising Partizan’s fans high at the press conference after the match for the great atmosphere. But when he was told about this banner, he got shocked and just said: ’it is unacceptable’.
He was right. You are unacceptable.

But I don’t want to finish this post with such negative thoughts, therefore let me show you this video that was recorded just after the final whistle. A fan got on the field, wanting to ask Lazović for his jersey. He immediately got a bunch of security guards on the back and was pushed outside. But the Montenegrin striker noticed it, ran to him and gave him his jersey.

Ladies and gentlemen,
a TRUE SPORTSMAN.
As soon as there is a video with the highlights, I post it.

(unmarked photos are all from hotsport.rs)

Coming up: FK Partizan - Tottenham Hotspur UEFA Europa League match tomorrow

The day has finally come.
Tomorrow Partizan welcomes Tottenham Hotspur from England in ul. Humska.
Europa League.
Partizan is among European teams.

Ah, it feels so good.

- Everyone knows everything about Tottenham, so I do not want to get too deeply into it - started Marko Nikolić the press conference. - This will be our first match in the group, therefore it will be the hardest as well. Yet I believe in the team, I believe in the young players that they can give their best. I do not promise anything; the only thing I promise is that we want to win every match.
Good news is that Vladimir Volkov is finally healthy and tomorrow he will most probably be in the starting eleven. Bad news is that Petar Škuletić got a 2-match ban from UEFA for his red card against Neftchi Baku. Some rumours say that Stanković is also injured, there’s no info about him yet if he can play tomorrow. Nemanja Kojić is slowly getting better, but he can surely not play for a while yet.

Match starts tomorrow at 19:00. Keep your eyes open about the broadcast though, especially if you, like me, watch it all on stream. RTS 2 starts to broadcast the match, but in the halftime it will switch to RTS 1 - so, all you stream hunters stay alert to find alternate links after the first half.