Wins for Vardar, Pelister, Turnovo and Makedonija GjP, Rabotnichki clinched a point against Renova, while Napredok and Shkendija shared the points.
Macedonia was covered with snow yesterday evening so today’s matches in Round 17 were all played in winter conditions.
Relegation candidate Makedonija GjP recorded an important home win over Bregalnica. With three goals in the final 20 minutes, Makedonija managed to triumph over the visitors from Shtip who were probably still under the euphoria from their success in the Macedonian Cup where they eliminated Shkendija to reach the semi-finals.
Turnovo had no problems on the road against Gorno Lisiche, celebrating a 2:0 victory. Dejan Blazhevski opened the scoring early in the 5th minute with his 15th goal this season, while Dean Mitrev set the final score 20 minutes from time.
Shkendija’s caretaker manager Shpëtim Duro opened with a goalless draw away to Napredok. Another draw occurred with another Tetovo based team in Renova. They hosted Rabotnichki and took the initial lead through a goal by Izair Emini in the 67th minute, but substitute Demir Imeri leveled for Rabotnichki late in the 88th minute.
Pelister had problems breaking down last placed Gostivar. Eventually, however, they got a goal from substitute Dimitar Vodenicharov in the 75th minute to snatch all three points. Pelister moved to share the first place on the standings with equal points with Vardar.
The derby of the round between Vardar and Metalurg started later at 17:00 CET. The atmosphere between these two teams is very intense, and that carries over to other sports as well. Recently, the men’s handball teams faced each other twice in the group stage of the handball Champions League, the road team being victorious each time.
In the Round 17 matchup, Vardar celebrated a big 3:0 win with all goals being scored in the first half. Defender Zlatko Tanevski opened the scoring after just two minutes following a free kick by Vlatko Grozdanoski. Ten minutes later, Aco Stojkov doubled the lead from a penalty kick as Metalurg defender Sedat Berisha played the ball with with hand. Then, four minutes before the break, Grozdanoski provided his second assist, this time to Petrov for a 3:0 lead. Early in the second half, Metalurg had a chance to get one back after Vardar captain Radenko Bojović fouled Mile Krstev in the box, but Risto Mitrevski’s spot kick went wide.
Renova – Rabotnichki 1:1 (0:0)
67′ Izair Emini – 88′ Demir Imeri
Gorno Lisiche – Horizont Turnovo 0:2 (0:1)
5′ Dejan Blazhevski, 70′ Dean Mitrev
Makedonija Gjorche Petrov – Bregalnica 3:0 (0:0)
72′ Filip Kolekjeski, 79′, 90′ Fahrudin Gjurgjevikj
Pelister – Gostivar 1:0 (0:0)
75′ Dimitar Vodenicharov
Napredok – Shkendija 0:0
Vardar – Metalurg 3:0 (3:0)
2′ Zlatko Tanevski, 12′ (pen) Aco Stojkov, 41′ Filip Petrov