Eduardo Decisive in Match

Eduardo used the mistakes of Hajduk’s defence and scored two goals, bringing Dinamo victory and a six point advantage.

In the biggest football match in Croatia, Dinamo (Zagreb) was victorious over Hajduk (Split) with a score of 2-1. Eduardo Da Silva affirmed his name as the most dangerous offensive player in the country, using two mistakes of the Hajduk defence in the first half and bringing advantage to the Zagreb team. In the second half, Dinamo was re-enacting the situation in Rijeka and, relaxing the last ten minutes, Bartolovic set the final 2-1 in the 84th minute.

Although this, 160^th derby was nicer to watch than the last one in Split where we were witness to fights on the field, this still was not the football worthy of the opponents’ reputations. Referee Svilokos showed he was worthy of the task ahead, although one could reproach him for several mistakes to the detriment of Dinamo, definitely caused by pressure on him ahead of the match.

The beginning of the match was marked by an aggressive game from both sides. In the second minute there was already a disputable situation. The player of the match, Dudu, played past Vugrinec who appeared before Balic, after whose start Vugrinec fell and Svilokos gave him a yellow card for faking.

The first cardinal mistake of Hajduk’s defence happened in the 20^th minute when Pelaic incautiously returned the ball to Balic, but it fell in front of Eduardo who made no mistakes and puts Dinamo in the lead.

After the goal, the match calmed down and we saw an equal struggle in the centre of the field until the 39^th minute. Then Carevic made a mistake of trying to dribble Corluka and the ball turns towards Balic. Eduardo again reaches it and scores another goal.

By the end of the half time nothing significant happened, except that in the 42^nd minute Ante Tomic replaced the hurt Mikic who played very well.

The second half began with the phenomenal action by Corluka, who was later praised by Zoran Vulic at the press conference. The young Dinamo star stacked several Hajduk’s defence players on the right side then kicked the ball to Vugrinec at 11 metres, who blunders up the chance, kicking the ball well over the goal.

There follows a period without much excitement, with two half-chances on each side. In the 70^th minute Rukavina stepped out, obviously unprepared for the atmosphere, and Jelavic replaced him.

The end of the game was again marked by the fall in the game of the home team. Hajduk uses this to put pressure on Dinamo’s goal and their efforts are rewarded six minutes before the end. Musa kicks the ball from the right, the ball passes through Dinamo’s defence and reaches Bartolovic who did not have a hard time scoring from several metres. Hajduk took over the initiative, but does not manage to score again. Three points are left in Zagreb’s Maksimir.

Maksimir stadium, 30,000 spectators

Referees: Vlado Svilokos, Zeljko Novosel, Vlado Crnolatac

Dinamo: Loncaric, Cale, Corluka, Schildenfeld, Drpic, Mikic (from 42. Tomic), Vukojevic, Mamic, Modric, Vugrinec (from 86. Carlos), Eduardo (from 89. Pokrivac)

Hajduk: Balic, Damjanovic, Zivkovic, Hrgovic, Gal, Rubil, Pelaic, Carevic, Bartolovic, Rukavina (from 70. Jelavic), Busic (from 46. Musa)

Shooters: 1-0 Eduardo 20', 2-0 Eduardo 39', 2-1 Bartolovic 85'

Branko Ivankovic: This was a marvellous opening of the spring part of the season, in an excellent atmosphere and I congratulate all spectators, particularly Bad Blue Boys. I am very content with the result and the game for most part of the match and I must congratulate by players for their great pugnacity and will. After the 2-0 lead we continued with the attacks, we did not let them come close, but as the end of the match drew closer we unconsciously stopped and allowed them to draw closer and threaten us several times. Mistakes such as those made by Pelaic and Carevic are an integral part of the game, but they were the fruit of our constant pressure and Eduardo reacted excellently both times.

Zoran Vulic: We gave away two goals and we can say that we were victorious over ourselves. We were a better team and I think that Dinamodid not deserve to win. Luck was on their side and in the last ten minutes we had two, three chances that we did not use. We deserved at least one point and the Zagreb team did not impress me at all tonight.

Zoran Vulic refused to attend the press conference with Branko Ivankovic because he felt insulted by his statements.

-- I am not from Venice and I did not come here with a gondola. Mr. Ivankovic said some things that insulted not only me, but all Dalmatians and I could not let it go – he concluded.

The shooter of two goals, Eduardo Da Silva: We were better throughout the game and we deservedly celebrated. There is a regret that we took a goal and we should not have. He could have judged a penalty on me, but I do not wish to complain. We all wanted to score a goal with Hajduk and I managed that twice. Mistakes are an integral part of football and I used theirs. I hope they will talk less now because ahead of this game they were very loud, but we shut them up on the field. But, what counts the most is victory and three points because our advantage grew to six points. The championship is not over, there is much till the end.

The  shooter of the only goal for Hajduk Mladen Bartolovic: This was a very good derby, the spectators can be  happy with what they saw on the field. We scored two goals to ourselves and I regret that. We scored too late and there was no chance for us to equalise. I think that the most realistic scenario would be a tie. We had chances at the end, but Loncaric defended Galo’s kick. Dinamo had many chances and they did not impress me at all. There is still a long way to go, the championship is not resolved.

Ante Rukavina: A point would be realistic because we were equal. They scored from our mistakes, but I must congratulate them. I am not happy with my game, it should have been better. I had a positive stage fright, but it did not bother me.

Zoran Mamic: This is a victory for the whole team, we played excellently from the first to the last second. There was a fall in the second half because three players had the flu over the weekend and this was felt in the end. It was a wonderful atmosphere and the most important thing is that we took three points. Now I must get down to work and win small games because that is how the championship is won.

Gordon Schildenfeld: In the beginning I was a bit nervous because I never played in front of so many spectators. I think we played an excellent game and that at no time did our victory come into question. I did not see Rukavina, but we closed him well. The guys received me great in the locker room and I thank them for that. I think that we achieved a great advantage over Hajduk.

Vedran Corluka: We played an excellent game, we played better than Hajduk in all segments of the game. We were compact from Eduardo to the goalie Loncaric. The championship is far from over, but we have great capital for future games. I did not expect more from Hajduk because they do not depend on themselves, rather, on how much we allow them to play. The atmosphere was excellent, thanks to everyone for their support.