[marakana11]

Please moderators, can this be a sticky?

The first round of mathces is this Saturday and there are some interesting fixtures on the horizon.

Saturday, August 11th:
17:30h Smederevo - Mladost Lučani
17:30h Hajduk Kula - Napredak
17:30h Vojvodina - Partizan
17:30h Bežanija - OFK Beograd
20:00h Crvena zvezda - Čukarički

Suspended for a later date: Borac Čačak - Banat

There are one or two fixtures that have caught my eye. The big match of the round will be Partizan versus Vojvodina. Both are challengers for European spots, the title, and the cup so it will be intersting to see where everyone stands after the final whistle has blown. Cukaricki has also come back to the premier division and will be welcomed by none other than the back to back Double Crown winners Red Star Belgrade.

OFK Belgrade face a stiff test versus Bezanija, as those are the two most likely teams to finish fourth behind Red Star, Partizan, and Vojvodina.

I will be reporting througout the weekend.

[marakana11]

The Second Round of the Serbian Super Meridan Liga has just been completed:

Results:

Čukarički - Partizan 0:3 (0:2)
Moreira 24', Jovetić 27', Lazetić 90'

Napredak - Bežanija 1:0 (0:0)
Pavlović 55'

Mladost Lučani - Hajduk Kula 0:0 (0:0)

Red Star Belgrade - Smederevo 1:0 (1:0)
Koroman 42'

Played on Friday:

OFK Beograd - Borac Čačak 2:0 (1:0)
Kaluđerović 19', Krstičić 82'

Sunday, August 19th:

17:00h Banat - Vojvodina

Table:
1. Partizan 2 2 0 0 4:0 (+4) 6 points
2. OFK Beograd 2 2 0 0 4:1 (+3) 6
3. Hajduk Kula 2 1 1 0 2:0 (+2) 4
4. Red Star Belg 2 1 1 0 1:0 (+1) 4
5. Napredak 2 1 0 1 1:2 (-1) 3
6. Mladost Lučani 2 0 2 0 0:0 (-) 2
7. Smederevo 2 0 1 1 0:1 (-1) 1
8. Čukarički 2 0 1 1 0:3 (-3) 1
9. Banat 0 0 0 0 0:0 (-) 0
10. Vojvodina 1 0 0 1 0:1 (-1) 0
11. Borac Čačak 1 0 0 1 0:2 (-2) 0
12. Bežanija 2 0 0 2 1:3 (-2) 0

Overall a good result for FC Partizan. They really seem to mean business this year. Red Star Belgrade is slowly finding their form and will be glad to have taken a 1-0 victory over Smederevo in front of their home fans. OFK Belgrade continue their usual good start to the season with a maximum 6 points out of 6. It still remains to be seen however if they can challenge the big two over the course of the year. For right now Stefan Babovic certainly might feel that way. Currently Stevan Jovetic of Partizan Belgrade is the leading scorer with 2 goals to his name. The young 18 year old came to prominence last year from the academy to cement his place in the first team, and now has firmly won a place in the starting 11. He is a lad to be watched out for. On the other side of things Red Star Belgrade got their first win, and Ognjen Koroman continued his good form that he has shown since the start of the season. What was interesting however was the formation Red Star Belgrade used. For the first time this season we played a true 4-4-2 with a flat back four, and a rough diamond in the midfield. This is what it looked like:

---------------------Randjelovic---------------------
Basta----------Tutoric---------Gueye------Andjelkovic
-----------------------Castillo------------------------
---------Koroman--------------------Lukas------------
----------------------Milovanovic---------------------
-------------Barkos---------------Djordjevic----------

It will be interesting to see how the team lines up versus Rangers in two weeks time. Our next game is versus Hajduk Kula on Saturday, and then Rangers on Wednsday. It's good to see that Dusan Basta came back from his European suspension to the all common back four that was there against AC Milan last season. The team remains almost unchanged albeit for Lukas and Barkos in the starting 11. It will be interesting to see if Nenad Milijas and Igor Burzanovic can regain their places respectively.

There is also a rumor that Red Star are going to bring a Serbian international forward into their ranks before the transfer window closes. I assume that can only mean Daniel Ljuboja, but we will soon see during the week.

'Til next time,

marakana10.

[marakana11]

Originally Posted by marakana11

\There is also a rumor that Red Star are going to bring a Serbian international forward into their ranks before the transfer window closes. I assume that can only mean Daniel Ljuboja, but we will soon see during the week.

This has been confirmed by www.sportskacentrala.com, the most respected Serbian sports website.



But instead of Daniel Ljuboja, who I previously had thought about, the man Red Star Belgrade is bringing in is Nenad Jestrović.

He is 30 years of age and this is his career by the numbers:

1994-1997 OFK Belgrade 68 games 31 goals

1997-1998 SC Bastia 19 games 2 goals

1998-2000 FC Metz 44 games 8 goals

2000-2001 R.E. Mouscron 25 games 20 goals

2001-2005 R.S.C Anderlecht 79 games 55 goals

2005-2006 Al Ain FC 26 games 14 goals

Overall he is a good player. He didn't manage to do quite so well in France after his move out of Serbia, but he became one of the legendary players of RSC Anderlecht, a Champions League regular. He is very creative with the ball but can also finish. This in my opinion is a quality, quality addition to our squad. He is also a Serbian international, but his last cap came under Ilija Petkovic, our former national team coach. It will be interesting to see how Jestrovic develops. Hopefully this will solve the equation that we have up front. With his addition we have now; Hernan Brakos, Filip Djordjevic, Franklin Salas, and himself. He was the top scorer of Belgium Premier Division in 2004 with 18 goals.

Here's a youtube clip of some of his goals:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d55HwqMDDg

[marakana11]

Here are the results of the Serbian league third round. No major surprises at all, with Partizan looking very confident in their title challenge. It seems like the front two are already raising the bar this season. The signings of foreign players are raising the caliber of the league and we can only hope that brings fans to the stands. Red Star Belgrade didn't play this round as they asked for their match to be suspended until they play their Champions League second leg qualifier versus Glasgow Rangers. Hajduk Kula, the fourth best team in Serbia readily accepted as their two best players are away on U21 duty for the Serbian National team in Ukraine. The match will be played on September 9th.

Results:

Borac Čačak - Napredak 1:0 (0:0)
Injac 70'

Vojvodina - OFK Beograd 1:1 (1:1)
Drakulić 39' - Arsenijević 44'

Partizan - Banat 4:2 (1:1)
Dijara 42', Jovetić 60', Đ. Lazić 70', Moreira 80' - M. Markovski 22', Milošević 83'

Played on Saturday:

Smederevo - Čukarički 1:0 (0:0)
Osmanović 85'

Bežanija - Mladost Lučani 0:0 (0:0)

Suspended for the 9th of September:

Hajduk Kula - Crvena zvezda

Table:

1. Partizan 3 3 0 0 8:2 (+6) 9 points
2. OFK Beograd 3 2 1 0 5:2 (+3) 7
3. Hajduk Kula 2 1 1 0 2:0 (+2) 4
4. Crvena zvezda 2 1 1 0 1:0 (+1) 4
5. Smederevo 3 1 1 1 1:1 (-) 4
6. Borac Čačak 2 1 0 1 1:2 (-1) 3
7. Mladost Lučani 3 0 3 0 0:0 (-) 3
8. Napredak 3 1 0 2 1:3 (-2) 3
9. Vojvodina 3 0 2 1 2:3 (-1) 2
10. Banat 2 0 1 1 3:5 (-2) 1
11. Bežanija 3 0 1 2 1:3 (-2) 1
12. Čukarički 3 0 1 2 0:4 (-4) 1

Stevan Jovetic continues his good form for Partizan. The 18 year old has 4 goals and is the leading goalscorer of the Serbian league. He seems to have a great nose for goal. His finishing abiltiy is absolutely terrific, reminiscent of Mateja Kezman from his finest days. The youngster also signalled his intention to stay with Partizan by signing a new four year contract. This will help him develop and focus on his footall. He will move to a foreign league when ready. He is a great talent.

[SRB1N33]

Good start for Partizan as well as OFK, i was thinking they would lose to Vojvodina but they didn't. Crvena zvezda should join top soon after their game is played. Not sure how well Vojvodina will do this year i was thinking they would be up their with Zvezda and Partizan but we will see.

[marakana11]

Still early days in the Uefa Cup, but Red Star Belgrade beat Polish side Groclin away 1-0 courtesy of a Dusan Basta goal.

If we can draw at home, we go through to the group stages of the competition.

I think we'll be able to.

Avanti, avanti Stella Rossa!

[marakana11]

8th Round Results:

Čukarički - Napredak 0:0 (0:0)

Hajduk Kula - Vojvodina 1:2 (1:1)
Komazec 5' - Kačar 32', Drakulić 90'

Smederevo - Partizan 1:1 (1:0)
Zečević 38' - Jovetic 56'(p)

Bežanija - Borac Čačak 1:2 (0:0)
Ranđelović 50'(p) - Injac 69', Pavlović 89'

Mladost Lučani - OFK Beograd 2:2 (0:2)
Useni 49', Žunić 55' - Kaluđerović 3', Beljić 17'

Crvena zvezda - Banat 2:0 (0:0)
Barkos 88', 90'

Tabela:
1. Partizan 8 6 2 0 19:7 (+12) 20 bodova
2. Vojvodina 8 4 3 1 10:7 (+3) 15
3. Borac Čačak 8 4 2 2 6:4 (+2) 14
4. Crvena zvezda 7 3 4 0 8:3 (+5) 13
5. OFK Beograd 8 3 3 2 11:8 (+3) 12
6. Banat 8 2 3 3 8:10 (-2) 9
7. Čukarički 8 2 3 3 5:9 (-4) 9
8. Hajduk Kula 7 2 2 3 5:6 (-1) 8
9. Smederevo 8 2 2 4 4:7 (-3) 8
10. Mladost Lučani 8 1 5 2 5:8 (-3) 8
11. Napredak 8 1 2 5 3:10 (-7) 5
12. Bežanija 8 1 1 6 5:10 (-5) 4

Red Star Belgrade thus moves up in the table while Partizan is held at Sartid, a tough place to go to. Red Star still has a game in hand thus if they win that they will be four points behind Partizan. It is good to see that Hernan Barkos is starting to score a lot of goals. He has three goals in the last three games. Slaven Jovetic keeps scoring for Partizan and his tally is up to 6 goals on the season. Ognjen Koroman, of Red Star has 5 goals, and Lamine Diarra of Partizan has 4. Vojvodina and OFK Belgrade maintain their decent starts to the season.

[marakana11]

Red Star Belgrade vs Banat. The Marakana Stadium. Belgrade, Serbia.

[marakana11]

Results of Round 12:

Partizan - Vojvodina 3:3 (2:2)
Dijara 1', Jovetić 9', Tošić 69' - Kačar 11', 45', 84'

Čukarički – Crvena zvezda 0:1 (0:0)
Milijaš 67'

Napredak – Hajduk Kula 1:0 (1:0)
P. Pavlović 12'

OFK Beograd – Bežanija 1:0 (0:0)
Babović 82'

Banat – Borac Čačak 2:1 (1:1)
Mikić 25'(p), Vujović 53' - B. Pavlović 41'

Mladost Lučani – Smederevo 3:2 (2:0)
Prtenjak 16', Milošević 35', Žunić 66' - Osmanović 69', Nikolić 81'

Table:

1. Partizan 12 8 4 0 26:11 (+15) 28 points
2. Vojvodina 12 6 5 1 20:13 (+7) 23
3. Crvena zvezda 11 5 6 0 13:5 (+8) 21
4. OFK Beograd 12 6 3 3 16:11 (+5) 21
5. Banat 12 4 4 4 14:15 (-1) 16
6. Borac Čačak 12 4 4 4 10:11 (-1) 16
7. Mladost Lučani 12 3 6 3 10:13 (-3) 15
8. Čukarički 12 3 5 4 8:11 (-3) 14
9. Napredak 12 3 3 6 8:13 (-5) 12
10. Smederevo 12 3 2 7 10:16 (-6) 11
11. Hajduk Kula 11 2 3 6 7:12 (-5) 9
12. Bežanija 12 1 1 10 7:18 (-11) 4

Red Star Belgrade could climb to second, to 4 points behind Partizan Belgrade if they win their game in hand over Hajduk Kula.