Crvena zvezda beat Spartak in Subotica to maintain good form and a hefty lead at the top of the table.
Ground: Gradski stadion
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Danilo Grujić
Goalscorers: Čečarić 90+1’ - Gobeljić 36’, Ben 41’ (pen), 69’
Spartak: Ostojić, Dunđerski, Ćalasan, Kerkez, Vukčević, Shimura, Glavčić, Milošević (Đenić 81’), Čečarić, Chow (Torbica 66’), Obradović (Lučić 77’).
Substitutes: Lučić, Tekijaški, Torbica, Đenić, Lučić, Rakić, Kulinič.
Crvena zvezda: Borjan (Popović 56’), Stojković, Gobeljić, Degenek, Hajdin, Jovančić, Čaušić, Ben (Joveljić 83’), Marin, Simić, Pavkov (Boakye 68’).
Substitutes: Popović, Krstičić, Meleg, Ebecilio, Joveljić, Jevtović, Boakye.
It was a great event at the newly-refurbished Gradski stadion in Subotica as Spartak played their a home match in Subotica for the first time this season.
Vladan Milojević welcomed Filip Stojković back to the team after his injury and the defender slotted in into an unfamiliar centre back role. Gobeljić and Hajdin played at right back and left back respectively, while Milan Pavkov again led the line.
From the start this looked like Ben’s evening. The tireless Comorian forward got into some great positions and hit both the post and the crossbar early on. He would get his goals later.
It was Marko Gobeljić who opened the scoring, however, as the hard-working defender got in Spartak’s box following a simple move from Borjan, Marin and Simić and blasted home to give Zvezda the lead with his fifth strike of the season.
Just five minutes later the lead was doubled as Ben converted a penalty. It was Milan Pavkov who was blatantly pulled and brought down in the area when trying to get on the end of a corner kick.
Second half began with a bout of misfortune for the Champions as goalkeeper Milan Borjan sustained a back injury after an awkward tumble to the ground. He was stretched off and substituted by Zoran Popović between the sticks.
Richmond Boakye replaced Milan Pavkov with 20 minutes remaining as the Ghanaian gradually returns to full match fitness. It was 3-0 just moments later as Veljko Simić galloped down the left and put in a perfect low ball for the onrushing Ben, who tapped in with ease.
A win was already secured then, but there was still time for the hosts to score a late consolation goal. It was Bojan Čečarić who scored a nice solo goal in injury time.
The final whistle brought big celebrations for the away fans, who will now look forward to Tuesday’s Champions League encounter with Paris Saint-Germain in Belgrade.