Belgrade rivals played out a drab goalless draw at Rajko Mitić Stadium on Sunday evening. Excitement was in shot supply for the majority of the match, mostly because the visiors seemed quite happy just to avoid a defeat.
Ground: Rajko Mitić Stadium
Attendance: 32,841
Referee: Danilo Grujić (Niš)
Teams:
Crvena zvezda: Borjan, Stojković, Savić, Le Tallec, Gobeljić, Donald, Krstičić, Kanga, Srnić, Pešić, Boakye.
Substitutes: Kahriman, Babić, Anđelković, Račić, Milijaš, Adžić, Radonjić.
Partizan: Stojković, Vulićević, Ostojić, Miletić, Miletić, Everton, Radin, Janković, Soumah, Đurđević, Tawamba.
Substitutes: Jovičić, Ćirković, Đuričković, Ilić, Kosović, Pantić, Jovanović.
Vladan Milojević was forced into making new changes after the draining match the squad has endured on Thursday and he picked Marko Gobeljić to play at left back with Rodić and Anđelković unavailable. The Kraljevo-born midfielder had a steady game. Meanwhile, new signing Nenad Krstičić was handed his Crvena zvezda debut and he produced a promising performance. Damien Le Tallec was recalled at centre back after he was forced to sit out the Krasnodar match through suspension.
After a nervy half-hour with hardly any attempts at goal, our team has carved out three great chances in space of just five minutes. Pešić was unlucky to hit the crossbar with a lovely executed curling shot from the edge of the area on 34 minutes. Shortly after that Richmond Boakye was foiled by the poor pitch as the ball bounced awkwardly just as the Ghanaian striker was about to apply the finish from just inside the box. And on 39 minutes Slavoljub Srnić was presented with a glorious one-on-one with former Zvezda goalkeeper Vladimir Stojković, but the little winger’s finish wasn’t good enough and it hit the onrushing ‘keeper.
The visitors have had a few promising counter-attacks, but they never came close to beating Milan Borjan and the match finished without a single shot on target by Partizan.
Second half offered even less with energy levels of both sets of players dropping notable. However, the red-and-whites have to be given credit for at least trying to find a way past the opposing defence. Guélor Kanga came closest on 63 minutes then he hit a low volley from just inside the area, but it fizzed on the wrong side of Stojković’s upright.
The match ended with a sense of disappointment from the home fans, but the team was still given a big applause for their brilliant week that was physically and emotionally very tiring for players and fans alike. The team will now have a two-week break because of the international break and there is no doubt it will do good for the players recovering from injuries.
Next up for the red-and-whites is a trip to Javor on Saturday, 9 September.