Macva Beat Partizan 2-1 as Stanojevic Loses First Game
Macva left Humska with three points, Stanojevic lost for the first time since returning to the bench, and Radosav Petrovic and Nemanja Glusica clashed after the final whistle.
The moment referee Pavle Ilic blew the final whistle in Humska, the cameras swung from the pitch to two men from the benches: Radosav Petrovic, Partizan’s director, and Nemanja Glusica, Macva’s coach, got into a verbal clash. Partizan coach Aleksandar Stanojevic ran over to separate them and ended up arguing with a member of the visiting staff from Sabac himself.
That was how the evening ended in which Partizan lost 1-2 to Macva in round 15 of the Serbian SuperLiga on Sunday, November 8, 2026. For Stanojevic it is the first defeat since he returned to the black-and-white bench, and for the visitors it ended a run of eight games without a win.
How did the goals come in Humska?
Macva took the lead in the 8th minute with a spectacular goal from Vasilije Djuric. Partizan replied quickly: Ibrahim Zubairu equalized in the 16th minute, and visiting goalkeeper Vukasin Jovanovic reacted poorly to his shot.
Danilo Knezevic decided it in the 36th minute, and that was the goal that stood until the end. Partizan lost the injured Dembe Sek, and in the second half, as the coach himself admitted, they attacked without posing any danger to the Macva goal.
What did Stanojevic say after the match?
The Partizan coach made no secret that the way the goals were conceded hurt him more than the result:
I think we came into the game well, created chances and played well, but it is incomprehensible how we conceded two goals. After that we did not play well, we got caught up in some kind of chaos. It was hard for the boys to lift themselves out of all that. That is our current reality.
There were mistakes at the back, he admits, but he also points to the chances from the first half: “Yes, there were quite a lot of mistakes. But still, we had two or three clear chances in the first half and we had to take them. If we are going to play like this anyway, then let it at least be 3-3 or 3-2.”
Asked whether the “shock therapy” after his return had worked, he answered that the problems are still visible:
How can I prove that? Some problems have remained, we will see in which direction we develop from here. But we really conceded very easily. That is incomprehensible to me. They were not some tactical mistakes, but certain situations we had.
On the mood in the squad he said: “Confidence comes from results, and we do not have it. When we conceded the second goal, we lost our confidence. We could not get going, we were toothless.”
He does not want to rush to conclusions. “We have only been here ten days and I would not draw conclusions, just as I did not draw them before this match,” Stanojevic said, putting off a final assessment until the end of the half-season. Stanojevic has taken the Partizan bench for the fourth time, and before him the team was led by Sasa Ilic, who was coach until October 26, 2026.
About Sek he said he was close to returning: “Sek was close to coming back. If the game had been in three days, I assume he would have been in contention for the squad. He means a lot to us.”
What does Macva say?
Glusica called the win historic and tied it straight to the league table. “I have to congratulate the boys, this is a big win for us, a historic one. We showed serious quality in attack and in defense. This win means a lot to us, we are fighting for survival, every point matters to us,” Glusica told Arena Sport.
The win in Humska ended their run of eight games without a victory. Macva now have 13 points, four fewer than Partizan.
What does the table look like?
After 15 rounds Partizan are tenth with 17 points. In the same round Red Star beat Vojvodina 1-0 in Novi Sad with a goal from Mahmoud Bagha in the 87th minute. Red Star lead with 43 points, Vojvodina are second with 32, and Partizan trail the leaders by 26 points.
Before the international break Stanojevic wanted his team to go into it on four straight wins, which the defeat in Humska denied him.
What is next for Partizan and Macva?
The black-and-whites will use the break for a trip to Thessaloniki, where they play a friendly against PAOK at the Toumba stadium on November 14. Three league games remain before the end of the half-season, and in the first one after the league resumes they travel to IMT. Macva host Vojvodina in the next round.
