Hajduk players beat Rijeka 1-0 with a goal by Marko Livaja in the 79th minute in the last game of the 23rd round of the SuperSport HNL.
Rijeka was left with one player less in the 44th minute when Dejan Petrović excludedwhile Marko Livaja scored the only goal for Hajduk in the 79th minute. At that moment, the Hajduk player Niko Sigur blushed.
It’s Hajduk again reduced the gap behind the leader Dinamo who again has a five point lead. Rijeka remained in third place in the ranking.
The entire first half Rijeka had more ball at its feet. She combined better and more specifically, but did not threaten the home goal too often. The visitors got their first chance in the 10th minute when Gojak shot inaccurately.
Just three minutes later, the home team put together a nice move. At the end of the action, Livaja played through Šega who tried to pass the running goalkeeper of Rijeka, but at that moment there was obvious contact.
But the judge Bell did not point to the white dotalready ruled that the Hajduk players were simulated.
In the 25th minute, Fruk tried, but it was a weak threat for the home goalkeeper Silić, while a minute later on the other side, Brajković made an effective attempt, but without a real finish.
The situation boiled over at the end of the first part when player Rijeka Pavlović earned a red card due to a careless and very dangerous start on Guillamon. That decision completely annoyed the coach of Rijeka, Victor Sanchez, who could not control himself and entered the field, went wild and protested, so he also deserved to be sent off.
Despite the player being less, Rijeka had the first chance in the rest of the game when the host team hung dangerously twice. Gojak shot in the 51st minute, and Adu-Adjei a minute later, but in both cases the home goalkeeper Silić was calm and very good.
Then Hajduk retaliated. First, there was a big crowd in the visitors’ penalty area in the 55th minute, but Brajković failed to score, while Šega’s shot went wide of Rijeka’s goal a minute later. In the 76th minute he attractively tried to threaten Livajbut his ‘scissors’ were a very easy catch for Zlomislic.
In the game itself during the second half, it was not really noticeable that the people of Split had more players. Hajduk was dominant, but the old pain, the torture at the very end of the actions, was relevant again. However, Rijeka’s defense cracked in the 79th minute when Hajduk’s new player Marešić made a nice assist, and Livaja bowed and headed in for 1-0.
The bad news for the people of Split was that Hajduk’s player Niko Sigur red-faced during the goal for pushing Radeljić.
Until the end, in a 10-on-10 contest, Rijeka did not create a single chance and Hajduk could celebrate winning three points.
(Hina | Photo: Sime Zelic/PIXSELL)
