Crvena zvezda continued their Superliga campaign with a fine victory over second-placed FK Vojvodina in Belgrade. Goals from Mitchell Donald and Guélor Kanga were enough to record a routine win over the Novi Sad team.
Ground: Rajko Mitić Stadium
Attendance: 8.120
Referee: Nenad Đokić
Goalscorers: Donald 29', Kanga 63'
Teams:
Crvena zvezda: Supić, Stojković, Savić, Le Tallec, Rodić, Donald, Krstičić, Kanga, Srnić, Radonjić, Boakye.
Substitutes: Gordić, Babić, Gobeljić, Račić, Milijaš, Adžić, Pešić.
Vojvodina: Rockov, Saničanin, Kojašević, Lakićević, Subotić, Antić, Vukasović, Jovančić, Avramovski, Mihajlović, Veselinović.
Substitutes: Perić, Lazarević, Renan, Zličić, Park, Jovanović, Mesarović.
Vladan Milojević fielded his strongest available XI – the only notable absentees were Branko Jovičić and Milan Borjan. Second-choice goalkeeper Damir Kahriman was also out with a back strain, so Nemanja Supić was recalled between the sticks. 17-year-old goalkeeper Miloš Gordić was named a substitute first time in his career.
The first chance of the match fell for full-back Milan Rodić, but Emil Rockov saved well to keep the score 0-0. The former Zenit player picked up an injury shortly after that chance and has had to go off. The extent of his injury is still unclear. Marko Gobljeić replaced him at left back.
Midway through the first half, Nemanja Radonjić missed a glorious chance after Krstičić and Stojković combined well on the right. The latter crossed low perfectly for Radonjić, but the winger managed to shoot wide from just five meters out with the goal at his mercy.
Just minutes later Kanga hit the post with a long-range effort. Zvezda were getting close and they finally broke the deadlock on 29 minutes. Donald won the ball in midfield and passed on to Boakye. The Ghanaian did well to keep the ball and return it to captain Donald who never stopped running and was well-positioned to slam home from just inside the box.
Zvezda continued to dominate after the break even though the visitors had an early chance. They wasted it, however, and looked tired. They couldn’t cope with the red-and-whites who kept knocking at the door. The pressure paid off on 63 minutes when Kanga produced one of his trademark moments of brilliance. He let fly from around 20 meters out and the low shot bounced into the bottom right corner of Rockov’s goal.
Milojević’s men relaxed a bit after the second goal and looked comfortable and happy to wait for the final whistle. This was probably done with Thursday’s match at 1. FC Köln in mind. Aleksandar Pešić and Luka Adžić came on in the final 20 minutes.
It was a convincing win ahead of another European test. Good luck, Milojević and the boys!