In an interesting and tensed match with not much of effective play, the biggest Macedonian football rivals Pelister and Vardar shared the points with a goalless draw in the round 14 of the Macedonian first football league.
Pelister Bitola – Vardar Skopje 0:0 (0:0)
Biggest Macedonian rivals Pelister and Vardar met today in Bitola on the "Tumbe Kafe" stadium. As always, the duel between the eternal rivals from the two biggest Macedonian cities drew big attention, but unfortunately it didn't attract more than 3000 fans on the stadium.
With a win in the derby, Milko Gjurovski and his club Vardar, wanted to stop the bad record of six matches (including the cup) without a win. And in the 12th minute Vardar had a great chance to take the lead when Muzafer Ejupi sent a shot from 25 meters, but it only hit the bar. The big derby brought big pressure and tensed atmosphere on the pitch and it gave the first result only 18 minutes after the kick off. Vardar's captain Miroslav Vajs had a confrontation with Draganco Dimitrovski who lost the nerves and punched Vardar's captain and was sent off without a doubt by the referee Goran Spirkoski. Pelister continued the match with 10 players, but this situation didn't have big effect on the players. In the 26th minute Pelister had big scoring chance when Miranda took a free kick from the right side and Ristevski sent a dangerous header, but Tome Pacovski saved his goal. In the 37th minute Vardar had another serious chance when Burhan Emurlahu shot from the edge of the box, but the ball hit the post. In the last minute of the first half, Jancevski sent a cross ball in the box, which Ejupi accepted but his shot went above the goal.
Vardar continued using the players advantage on the pitch, but it didn't resulted with some serious chance. Probably this situation brought additional nervousness between Vardar's players. in the 66th minute Spirovski fouled Braga and the experienced player lost his nerves while he was on the ground and kicked the Pelister's player and earned a red card. Both teams with 10 men on the pitch continued to fight for the points, but they spent more of the time lying on the pitch then playing. The only serious chance in the later stage of the match was when Brazilian Miranda dribbled through Vardar's defence and entered the box, but Pacovski saved his shot.
In a match where both teams didn't show much quality, the goalless draw was probably the most realistic outcome. This result was Vardar's third 0:0 in the last three matches, the period when Milko Gjurovski took over the club.
Rabotnicki Skopje – Horizont Turnovo 4:1 (1:0)
37' Filho, 75' 86' Ilijoski, 81' Fabio – 72' Georgiev
This match was very similar to the one from last week when Rabotnicki was big favorite against Napredok, but failed to impress on the pitch. Rabotnicki was big favorite again today against Turnovo and this time they managed to win, but it was only because of Turnovo's bad performance and not because of Rabotnicki's qualities.
Brazilian midfielder Ze Carlos Filho with a long shot from 20meters scored the opening goal after Rabotnicki's small initiative and the same score stayed until the second half.
In the second half Rabotnicki continued with the unimpressive performance and they were punished for that. Dragan Georgiev used one mistake by Rabotnicki's defence and Turnovo equalized the score. Luckily for the reigning champions, they had enough time for consolidation and very fast they took back the lead with the goal by Baze Ilijoski. In the last part of the match Da Silva Fabio and Ilijoski with his second goal confirmed the victory and set the final score.
Sileks Kratovo – Napredok Kicevo 7:1 (3:1)
13' Ristic, 29' Stupic, 42' Markovski, 46' 64' Gligorov, 58' Karamacoski(og), 71' Gjorgjevic – 44' Stupic(og)
Sileks and Napredok played probably the most interesting match this round when eight goals were scored in Kratovo. The serie of goals was started by Mladen Ristic who scored with a header after Gligorov's cross from the right side. In the 29th minute after a cross by Natkov, Bosko Stupic beat goalkeepr Karamacovski with another header. Markovski with a shot from 16 meters scored for 3:0 and right before the half time break, Stupic scored an own goal for 3:1 on the half time.
Sileks didn't stop here and continued attacking in the second half. Gligorov with two goals, one own goal after a mistake by the goalkeeper Karamacovski and a goal by Gjorgjevic, set the final score 7:1 for the biggest win and the highest scoring match this season.
Metalurg Skopje – Makedonija GjP Skopje 0:1 (0:1)
45' Washington
Makedonija one very important three points away to strengthened Metalurg, points which extended their lead on four points in front of Milano and six in front of Vardar and Renova.
Metalurg looked like underdogs, but only on paper, as they caused big problems today for Makedonija. Both sides struggled to create any serious chance, as in the first 45 minutes only Donev had a good chance to take Metalurg in the lead. The fans on Zelezarnica waited until the last moments of the first half to see a real excitement. After a corner kick, the tall Brazilian Washington scored with a header.
Makedonija's lead gave Metalurg a motivation and they started with more active performance. But the guests successfully defended their goal and also used Metalurg's open style to create chances on their goal. Metalurg had a chance to equalize before the end when in the 87th minute Petreski shot on Makedonija's goal but Pavlovic saved and Makedonija GjP celebrated the win at the end.
Pobeda Prilep – Milano Kumanovo 0:0 (0:0)
Pobeda and Milano played an interesting match in Prilep with attacking play, but with no serious chance for the scorers who were not in the mood for scoring goals today. Kapinkovski had the only good chance for taking Pobeda in the lead in the first half and Ali had a chance in the last moments of the match for Milano, but Pobeda and Milano shared the points with the most unpopular result.