Crvena zvezda remain top of the Superliga table ahead of the international break after a 4-1 win at Novi Pazar.
Ground: Novi Pazar City Stadium
Attendance: 6.500
Referee: Milan Ilić
Goalscorers: Travančić 92' - Luković 23' (pen), Orlandić 32', Ruiz 86', Anđelković 103'
Teams:
Novi Pazar: Živković, Vasilić, Tintor, Stanojević, Marić, Mutavdžić, Cecarić, Micevski, Alivodić, Dimitrijević, Travančić.
Substitutes: Zečević, Brunčević, Kačar, Lepović, Pajović, Rušević, Đoković.
Crvena zvezda: Kahriman, Petković, Luković, Rendulić, Anđelković, Donald, Poletanović, Kanga, Ruiz, Mouche, Orlandić.
Substitutes: Supić, Cvetković, Ristić, Račić, Plavšić, Srnić, Sikimić.
The match in south of Serbia started off nervously and the fans had to wait until 23rd minute until breakthrough. Guélor Kanga was fouled in the box and referee pointed to the spot. Captain Aleksandar Luković took the penalty well to make it Novi Pazar 0 Crvena zvezda 1.
Novi Pazar were gifted a good chance to equalize on 32 minutes. Our goalkeeper Damir Kahriman needlessly lost possession outside his box and he can count himself very lucky because the home players made a mess out of the opportunity.
Petar Orlandić punished the hosts for their miss just seconds later. The ball was played forward and, with defenders misjudging it, the big striker was left one on one with Živković. The Montenegrin made no mistake as he finished coolly to double the lead for the Belgrade club.
Second half has seen a lot of trouble that doesn’t belong in football. Predrag Sikimić came on to replace Petar Orlandić. And Sikimić was sent off after a reckless challenge on the Novi Pazar goalkeeper.
Kanga was booked for simulating in the box which was greeted with words “Kanga finally booked” coming out of the PA system. This unprofessional announcement combined with the injury to the Novi Pazar goalkeeper resulted in home fans throwing seats onto the pitch and causing the match to be suspended for more than 15 minutes.
The match was thankfully continued and Slavoljub Srnić, who’d replaced Pablo Mouche just seconds previously, made a great run and assist to John Jairo Ruiz who finished to make it 3-0 to the champions.
Novi Pazar managed to grab a fine consolation goal through Travančić, who beat Kahriman with a great shot from around 20 meters out.
Dušan Anđelković wrapped the win for the red-and-whites with a rare goal on 103 minutes. He blasted home after being played in by Srđan Plavšić.
Final whistle marked sixth straight win for Crvena zvezda Belgrade who remain top of the pile ahead of the international break.