Crvena zvezda concluded this season‘s Superliga with a commanding win over Napredak, but the match itself had to take a back seat on this particular occasion. We said goodbye to Club Captain Nenad Milijaš, who lifted the trophy before kick-off.
Ground: Rajko Mitić Stadium
Attendance: 41,142
Referee: Bojan Nikolić (Kragujevac)
Goalscorers: Joveljić 12', Jevtović 57', Ebecilio 89'
Crvena zvezda: Popović, Gajić, Savić, Babić, Gobeljić, Čaušić, Vulić, Jirka (61' Simić), Milijaš (64' Ebecilio), Vukanović (46' Jevtović), Joveljić.
Napredak: Petrović, Aksentijević (46' Stevanović), Deak, Ostojić (46' Eskić), Obradović, Jović, Marinković, Ivanović, Đorić, Alivodić, Rušević (73' Bojić).
The sky has opened and threw everything at us just as Dejan Joveljić celebrated his opening goal following a terrific Jirka run and cross. Rain kept drumming down and, as lightnings and thunders raged above our Marakana, the hail found it‘s way down onto the pitch.
Referee Nikolić was forced to interrupt the match a couple of times, but thankfully total delay wasn‘t too long and the match went on despite the downpour.
The rain didn‘t do anything to deter the Delije, who celebrated their 30th anniversary along with the club‘s 30th championship title. If anything, it got the fans to cheer and sing louder on a memorable evening in Belgrade.
Milan Jevtović scored just before the hour mark when he cut in from the left flank and finished past Petrović to all but ensure the points.
Lorenzo Ebecilio replaced Nenad Milijaš amid a huge applause and it was rather symbolic that it was the former Ajax midfielder who completed the scoring late on to make it 3-0.
The conditions were terrible, but it couldn‘t spoil the party on a day full of celebrations in red and white.
We are the champions!