There were no goals, unusual for the Adriatic derby. However, this is positive for Hajduk, which gave itself a grain of stability and did not fall apart after losing to Osijek at home. Since we always look towards the top of the rankings and follow the championship math, with Hajduk’s loss of two new points, Dinamo officially became the champion. Done. The end. He doesn’t even have to play against Varaždin, he is unattainable.
However, that is not the main story from Rujevica. Rijeka and Hajduk fought for prestige and additional knowledge. The weather is beautiful, sunny, the terrain is ideal, the English would say “what a glorious day”. However, football is quite poor…
Rijeka without Fruka is like a man without a moustache, and Hajduk, taught by bitter experiences, but also by some earlier knowledge, rearranged himself from the beginning into a formation with three stoppers at the back. This brought stability to Rujevica in the ill-fated cup match where he lost it in the last moments with 2:3, and he led for a long time with 2:1. Earlier in the championship, Hajduk suffered badly here and lost with 0:5, which started last fall’s descent from Split in the rankings. However, at that time, the indomitable Toni Fruk was at the top of Rijeka’s attack, and now he is gone, he is injured.
With these basic settings, the latest Adriatic derby started and a barren Rijeka plus a cautious Hajduk resulted in us watching, let’s say, a boring game for a long time. Until she turned into dynamic and combative. It was a long warm-up…
They were afraid of each other, and then it started: Hajduk had the first chance in the 36th minute, on an ideal pass from Livaja Pukštas, he appeared in front of Zlomislić in a 100% chance to shoot past the left post, it was a great chance. Accident for Hajduk, accident for Rokas.
Then, at the end of the first half, when the concentration in the defense of the guests weakened, Rijeka got a breather and chances, but Toni Silić locked the door in style. He saved Dantas’ shot from distance, then the ball bounced off the crossbar, but it would have been a foul for Hajduk and if it had been an own goal by Šarlija, it would not have been recognized. Even before going on vacation, Silić thwarted Adu Adjei’s attempt from close range. He brought all the adrenaline into that defense and encouraged himself and his teammates, come on, come on… Good for the young goalkeeper, he’s back in great shape! In the 23rd minute, Silić also saved a shot from distance by Pavić.
By the way, the fact that we see Hajduk in a 3-4-2-1 formation did not surprise us. After Koprivnica, you may remember, we hinted that this could become a permanent commitment of Hajduk. This is certainly a test for the next season, Marešić as a libero, then a test of what Raci is like at stopper, how reliable he can be, then how Brajković would cope as a right winger a la Srna, and ultimately whether it would be worth extending the cooperation with the experienced and hardworking, quality Melnjak on the left side. All this, we would say, is in the balance in the Garcia-Graf co-production. The match as a test for the next season, while Dinamo prepares the championship celebration.
In the 47th minute, Zlomislić saved a shot from Marešić in an attacking excursion, and in the 50th, Brajković and Melnjak set up the action for the goal, as assistant and scorer. The net shook, but it was in the backfield, marked by Goran Pataki, referee from Đakovo. And confirmed by VAR. Brajković ran a little earlier. But an interesting combination of two side wings.
The match again sank into – it’s not boredom, but we call on Špaca Poklepović – into crumbling. We like that expression, it wasn’t lethargic on Rujevica, but little was really happening.
It is unusual that the first substitution of the match was made only in the 81st minute, Huram came in instead of Pajaziti… So that Rijeka’s Spanish skipper Sanchez, like Hajduk’s Garcia, would make the first substitutions.
The first teams played for eighty minutes, quite bizarre for the new football time and era.
Dantas again tried a shot from a distance, Silić was awake, he broke into the corner, the 89th minute was played.
If there were no goals, there were yellow cards at the end and substitutions, six minutes of stoppage time were nibbled away until the final, inexorable 0:0 end.
One would say nothing, nothing, but in the end Hajduk was still solid in its test, here it has been swallowing bitter pills lately…
