Red Star Beats Radnicki Nis 3-0, 20 Points Clear of Partizan
Marko Arnautovic and Red Star routed Radnicki Nis 3-0 at the Marakana before the international break, and the table after 10 rounds shows the champions 20 points clear of Partizan.
Marko Arnautovic stood completely alone in front of the Radnicki goal in the 20th minute, took the ball in a prime position and fired with full force. Visiting goalkeeper Kostic pushed the shot away and kept the score at 0-0, repeating a similar rescue act just minutes earlier when he had also denied efforts from Strika and Katai. Rijera’s side spent the entire first half camped in Radnicki’s half, but the goal simply would not come, even though everyone inside the Marakana sensed it was only a matter of time.
The Round 10 Superliga match, the last before the lengthy international break, kicked off on Sunday, September 20, at 7 p.m. at Rajko Mitic Stadium. Red Star went in as the clear favorite against Radnicki Nis, and the final score bore that out, but the visitors’ resistance in the opening half hour was far from symbolic.
The breakthrough finally arrived in the 29th minute. Loizou surged down the right and slipped a precise ball into space, and Arnautovic tapped it in from close range to make it 1-0. Nine minutes later the Austrian forward swapped roles: Timi Elsnik found him at the edge of the box, he laid the ball off for Mohamed Abu Fani, and Abu Fani curled a precise finish into the net for 2-0. Inside less than a half, Arnautovic had a hand in both goals, first as scorer, then as provider.
There was still time for a third before the break. Katai threatened from a tighter angle, but Kostic was equal to it again. Radnicki went into the interval down 2-0 with little realistic hope of restoring any doubt.
Any hope that a quick goal after the restart might change things faded almost immediately. Already in the 49th minute, Tomas Handel struck from around fifteen meters, the ball clipped Radnicki defender Uros Vitas on its way to goal, changed direction and wrongfooted Kostic completely for 3-0. It was not, as some reports have suggested, an assist. The goal came off a deflection.
Around the 60th minute Rijera made four substitutions at once, sending off Katai, Strika, Handel and Arnautovic and bringing on Mihajlo Ristic, Mirko Ivanic, Vasilije Kostov and Bamba Dijeng. The tempo barely dropped afterward, even as the scoreline stayed put.
Accounts of the closing chances diverge. According to HotSport, Ivanic broke through alone on goal in the 69th minute only to be denied by Kostic, while Sputnik reports that Ivanic hit the crossbar late in the match. The two outlets also disagree on Bamba Dijeng’s effort: HotSport says the referee ruled out his goal for offside in the 75th minute, while Sputnik says Kostic saved his shot. Either way, Radnicki never managed to pull one back, and at the other end Red Star goalkeeper Mateus kept his clean sheet intact with one save, denying Jokic’s attempt to at least soften the margin of defeat.
Standings after 10 rounds
The win further cemented Red Star’s grip on top of the Superliga table. The team now has 28 points, with a record of nine wins and one draw, and a goal difference of 24 to 3, meaning just three goals conceded across a full 900 minutes of league play. Their only dropped point so far came in Surdulica, where Radnik held them to a 0-0 draw, while in head to head meetings they have already beaten both Vojvodina 3-1 and Partizan 2-1.
At the other end of the table, the picture looks completely different. Partizan sit 11th after nine matches with eight points, two wins, two draws and five losses, and a goal difference of 17 to 19. Sasa Ilic’s team showed again in the previous round just how much its defense is lacking, needing a man down comeback to salvage a 4-4 draw in Surdulica. Even if the Belgrade club wins its postponed match against Radnicki Nis, the gap to Red Star would still stand at 17 points, and the current 20 point cushion in mid September is a margin Serbian football has not seen in a long time.
The only side keeping anything resembling a reasonable distance from the leaders is Vojvodina, second with 22 points and a goal difference of 21 to 10. The league resumes on October 10, when Red Star travel to face Radnicki 1923 in Kragujevac, while Radnicki Nis host Vojvodina at home.
The international break comes at a good time for Partizan, who need more than cosmetic fixes to their defense. Red Star, on the other hand, hardly need anything beyond continuing at the pace they have set all season. Both Belgrade clubs face their next test on October 10.
