We have been knocked out in the Kup Srbije semi final after a 1-0 reverse at Partizan. A nervous Crvena zvezda never got going in a passionate and physical match and were denied a spot in the final.
Ground: Partizan Stadium.
Attendance: 15,000.
Referee: Novak Simović.
Goalscorer: Natcho 58’
Partizan: Stojković (78’ N Stevanović), S Pavlović, Natcho (67’ Soumah), Sadiq, Asano, Zdjelar, Šćekić, Ostojić, Marković (72’ F Stevanović), Urošević, Miletić.
Substitutes: N Stevanović, L Pavlović, Vitas, Soumah, Brežančić, F Stevanović, Matić.
Crvena zvezda: Borjan, Gobeljić, Milunović, Degenek, Rodić, Petrović (83’ Jovičić), Jovančić (65’ Gavrić), Ben, Ivanić (76’ Radulović), Vukanović, Boakye (65’ Tomané).
Substitutes: Popović, Pankov, Jovičić, Vulić, Radulović, Gavrić, Tomané.
Chances were again hard to come by, but Zvezda could have been ahead by half time with Boakye and Vukanović combining well upfront. Our best chance came just before the break when Ben's free kick bounced off the stanchion. Vukanović was there to tuck it in, but it didn't count because he was offside.
Partizan started well in the second half and were ahead on 58 minutes. Sadiq did well to evade Zvezda defenders and lay the ball off for Natcho to fire low just under the grasp of Borjan and give his side the lead that would prove decisive.
Zvezda came close to leveling shortly after the opener, but Boakye and Petrović couldn't get their shots on target. Tomané came on with half an hour left and could grab a quick goal, but he sliced his shot from a narrow angle after creating a decent position for himself.
Dejan Stanković tried to shake things up with substitution, sending young Andrija Radulović on, but the black and whites defended well and wouldn’t allow any late chances. There were nine minutes of injury time, but our team couldn’t force an equalizer and a penalty shoot-out as Partizan held on to claim the victory.