Crvena zvezda Belgrade returned to league action with a convincing 2-0 defeat of bottom of the table Novi Pazar. The Rajko Mitić Stadium team once again showed that winning will be on their agenda in 2017 too.
Ground: Rajko Mitić Stadium
Attendance: 15.750
Referee: Milorad Mažić
Goalscorers: Plavšić 40', Petković 82'
Teams:
Crvena zvezda: Manojlović, Petković, Luković, Frimpong, Anđelković, Donald, Le Tallec, Kanga, Ruiz, Plavšić, Boakye
Substitutes: Supić, Milošević, Milijaš, Poletanović, Adžić, Sikimić, Pavkov.
Novi Pazar: Živković, Vasilić, Tasić, Knežević, Vusljanin, Marković, Sinđić, Ignjatović, Plavšić, Marić, Krstić.
Substitutes: Budaković, Ibrahimović, Milojević, Brunčević, Pajović, Perović, Muslimović.
Around 15 thousand people gathered at Serbia’s biggest stadium to greet Miodrag Božović and his team after a lengthy winter break. There was a tangible sense of expectation after the notable changes to the squad. And there were solid debuts for new boys Frimpong and Boakye.
Shortly after kick-off it was clear that Novi Pazar were going to try and frustrate the hosts and attempt to play for a draw. Zvezda were once again facing a wall of defenders in the final third of the pitch. But Božović’s players showed great urgency and applied plenty of pressure every time they lost possession so the visitors couldn’t even organize counter-attacks.
There were decent attempts by Mitchell Donald and Richmond Boakye before Srđan Plavšić beat Živković in Novi Pazar’s goal. The little winger cut inside from the right wing and curled a low shot into the far corner to give his side the lead after 40 minutes of play.
Zvezda continued to push forward until the half time whistle, but the result didn't change.
Miodrag Božović clearly warned his players against complacency during the break and they returned to the pitch with even more desire. Novi Pazar were limited to just a few solo runs that were expertly halted by Frimpong, Luković and Donald. There were plethora of crosses to the box, long shots and overlapping runs by Anđelković and Petković, but somehow Novi Pazar’s deficit remained minimal.
The warmest applause of the day came on 75 minutes when Nenad Milijaš came on to make his third Zvezda debut. Clad in his familiar number 10 shirt he replaced Guélor Kanga and proceed to excite the fans. It was almost as he’d never left!
It had to be Milijaš, of course, to provide an assist for the vital second goal, as his ball from a free kick found Marko Petković who headed home from close range to get his very first Crvena zvezda goal. Even though that goal pretty much ended the contest, Zvezda players refused to take a breather in the final ten minutes. This was acknowledged by the fans who applauded their team’s efforts to find yet another goal.
It wasn’t to be, though, and the match finished with 2-0 the score.
There is a long way to go, of course, and many aspects of the game to improve, but it looks like Miodrag Božović has a team with more potential than the one we’ve been watching in the first half of the season. The players will have another chance to reassure the fans next weekend when they travel to FK Bačka.