Crvena zvezda beat Radnički 2-1 at Rajko Mitić Stadium to secure the top spot in the championship ahead of the upcoming winter break.
Ground: Rajko Mitić Stadium
Gledalaca: 14,200
Referee: Nenad Đokić (Užice)
Goalscorers: Ruiz 3', Donald 23' - Pavkov 11'
Teams:
Crvena zvezda: Manojlović, Petković, Le Tallec, Phibel, Anđelković, Donald, Poletanović, Kanga, Plavšić, Ruiz, Sikimić.
Substitutes: Supić, Cvetković, Stojanović, Račić, Ristić, Srnić, Orlandić.
Radnički: Bajić, Bulatović, Petrović, Mrkić, Stanojević, Jovanović, Stanković, Radivojević, Stojanović, Arsić, Pavkov.
Substitutes: Konovalov, Ignjatović, Živković, Kartal, Apostolović, Jovanović, Mitrović.
Crvena zvezda got off to a perfect start as John Jairo Ruiz opened the scoring with a fantastic long-range low shot. The Costa Rica international delighted the fans that arrived to watch Zvezda in what was the last home game of the year.
But Radnički haven't arrived to Belgrade to go down without a fight and they were level just eight minutes later as Pavkov headed past Manojlović to finish off a lovely Radnički move.
The game continued to offer a lot of action, quick moves and goal attempts, and Zvezda players felt at home. They were ahead again on 23 minutes when birthday boy Mitchell Donald made the most of a Guélor Kanga pass and stuck a shot that went in off the bar. The 28-year-old Dutchman couldn't have wished for a better birthday present than to score what would prove as the match-winning goal.
John Jairo Ruiz has had a couple more shots at goal before the break, but Bajić denied him on one occasion, and he hit the wrong side of the side-netting on the other.
The second half offered less excitement as Miodrag Božović's team controlled the match well. Radnički came close to scoring twice, however, but young goalkeeper Filip Manojlović starred and made two great saves to keep his team in the lead.
Petat Orlandić, Uroš Račić and Mihailo Ristić came on the second half, but there were no notable chances for the home team, who eventually ran out 2-1 winners.