Prva Liga

Macedonian First League – Round 1

Prva LigaThe First round of the 21st edition of the Macedonian First League has now completed with Vardar and Metalurg, the two favorites, both recording wins over Rabotnichki and Sileks, respectively.

The new 2012/13 season has gotten underway in Macedonia.  The first match was played on Saturday between Renova and Napredok (ending in a 1:1 draw), while the remaining games of the round took place on Sunday.  Metalurg played with 10 men from early on in their match against Sileks but still found a way to win thanks to two goals by Mile Krstev and Petar Ljamchevski.  Later in the game, Sileks also went down to 10 players but Metalurg was well on their way in opening the season with three points.  In a somewhat surprising result, Horizont Turnovo stunned Teteks with a goal in the dying moments by newcomer Dejan Blazhevski.  Pelister, returning to the First League this season, opened with a home draw against Shkendija with Drgan Dimitrovski scoring a late equalizer in the 89th minute after Muzafer Ejupi had given Shkendija the initial lead in the 80th minute.  Bregalnica defeated First League debutant Drita 0:1 on the road with a goal by veteran Riste Naumov.

Interestingly, there were a total of 7 red cards in the four matches played today.  Three of them were shown during the Drita vs. Bregalnica match in Bogovinje with the former receiving two red cards while the latter saw one red card.  As mentioned earlier, Sileks and Metalurg had one player sent off during their match, as did Pelister and Shkendija in their encounter.

In the lone night game to close the round, Vardar managed to get past Rabotnichki 3:2.  Vardar had a commanding 3:0 lead at halftime but Rabotnichki made it close in the 2nd half with two goals to cut the deficit.  In the end, however, the defending champions held on and opened the season with three points as they look to defend the league title this season.

Macedonian First League – Round 1 results and scorers

Drita Bogovinje – Bregalnica Shtip 0:1
Riste Naumov 24′

Pelister Bitola – Shkendija Tetovo 1:1
Dragan Dimitrovski 89′ – Muzafer Ejupi 80′

Sileks Kratovo – Metalurg Skopje 0:2
Mile Krstev 44′, Petar Ljamchevski 53′

Teteks Tetovo – Horizont Turnovo 0:1
Dejan Blazhevski 90′

Vardar Skopje – Rabotnichki Skopje 3:2
Borche Manevski 23′, Jovan Kostovski 35′, Jorge Giménez 43 – Genc Hyseni 56′, Krste Velkoski 69′

Round 1 Fixtures and Current Standings

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