Vardar's and Pelister's slump to another match without a win and the good winning form by Rabotnicki and Milano, marked the round 17 from the Macedonian first football league.
Milano Kumanovo – Renova Dzepciste 3:1 (2:1)
10' Geshoski, 30' Gligorovski, 61' Isufi – 43' Ali(p)
The most interesting match of this round was played in Kumanovo, where second placed Milano hosted third placed Renova.
Milano were motivated to use the home advantage and win the three points on the match, so they can get closer to leading Makedonija GjP who were free in this round. The first excitements came after nine minutes of play when Gligorovski shot from the right but the goalkeeper Kovacevic blocked the shot. But in the next minute, Gligorovski found Geshoski in the box who shot in the lower right corner and scored the opening goal for Milano’s lead. Renova then tried to equalize, but Milano successfully controlled the match. In the 30th minute after a fast counter attack, Gligorovski scored from a dubious offside position. The situation caused big protests by Renova’s players and coaching stuff and after the three minutes break, the match continued with a 2:0 lead for Milano. Ten minutes later, Brando fouled Memedi on the edge of the box and there was another dubious decision by the referee Meckarovski who whistled for a penalty kick, besides the protests by the home players and Milano’s coach Sokoli who claimed that the foul was done outside of the box. After the few minutes of protests, Ilber Ali took the penalty kick and lowered Milano’s and set the 2:1 score on the half time break.
The goal in the last minutes of the first half, gave the guests a motivation for the second half and they started it with more attacking play. In the 52nd minute Renova scored another goal, but with another suspicious decision by the referee’s assistant, the goal was disallowed because of Andonov’s dubious offside position. But Milano didn’t stop here as in the 62nd minute after a cross from the right side, Alimi was unselfish and passed the ball to Isufi in the center of the box who scored for 3:1. This goal brought big disappointment for Renova’s players who didn’t have enough motivation to chase Milano’s lead in the rest of the match. Milano successfully controlled the match and kept the lead which brought them the three points and only four points behind Makedonija.
Rabotnicki Skopje – Sileks Kratovo 3:0 (0:0) – photo gallery
54' Perendija, 66' Savic, 70' Filho
Sileks arrived in Skopje as big underdogs against reigning champions Rabotnicki because of this season's results in which Sileks had no win and only two draws on the away matches, while Rabotnicki had no defeat on Gradski.
In the first 45 minutes, Rabotnicki had the controll of the match and more of the ball possession. The home players made pressure on Sileks' goal, but didn't create any serious chance. The goalkeepers on both sides were rested in the first half, as there was no need for interventions in front of their goals.
Rabotnicki continued with their pressure in the second half and finally they converted their chances in goals. Three serious shots on target and three goals. In the 54th minute Ze Carlos Filho took a free kick from the right side and the defender Milan Perendija was highest in the box and sent the ball in the net with a header. In the 65th minute the newly entered Dusan Savic stole a ball and came out alone with the goalkeeper, but missed the target. But in the next minute, Filho sent a through ball forward and this time Savic was more successful and beat the keaper for 2:0. Few minutes later, after a counter attack, Kirovski assisted the Brazilian José Carlos Gomes Filho who scored for 3:0 and set the final score.
Napredok Kicevo – Vardar Skopje 1:1 (0:1)
82' Stavrevski – 40' Jancevski
Incredible 10th match for Vardar without a win. The last win for Vardar was exactly two months ago and eight league and two cup matches later, Vardar continues with the bad performances.
Both teams started the match with a nervous play and a slow match. In the first half, the few thousand fans in Kicevo were not able to see much excitements. The first real chance came in the 40th minute when Vardar's leading striker Boban Jancevski took Vardar in to lead. After the goal, Vardar continued attacking and in the last minute of the first half they had the chance to double the lead when after a cross by Milisavljevic, Jancevski shot just next to the goal.
Napredok started attacking more in the second half. After few missed chance on both sides, Vardar had the chance to secure the win in the 80th minute but he missed the target. And then came the punishment for Vardar. In the 82nd minute, Trpenovski took a free kick from the right side and Stavrevski headed the ball in to the goal for equalizing the score.
After 15 played rounds, Vardar's so called dream team has 10 points less then leading Makedonija GjP and on a round before the winter break, the title hopes are slowly vanishing.
Metalurg Skopje – Pelister Bitola 1:0 (1:0)
25' Velkoski
The "derby of the bottom" was played in Skopje where last placed Metalurg hosted crises hit Pelister. The points were very important by both sides and both teams played interesting attacking football. After 25 minutes, Pelister's defence made a mistake and Metalurg's Velkoski received the ball and scored for 1:0.
After the opening goal, both teams continued with even faster play, but no serious chances were created on both goals. Pelister had the most serious chance in the 70th minute when Miranda tried to lob the goalkeeper Mancevski, but Miskovski blocked the ball from the goal line.
After 90 minutes in which the referee Shuleski showed 10 yellow cards (8 for Metalurg and 2 for Pelister), the hosts won very important three points with which they left the bottom where now Pelister is placed with only 12 points after 15 matches played.
Horizont Turnovo – Pobeda Prilep 1:0 (0:0)
67' Postolov
Horizont hosted Pelister in Turnovo on the Kukush stadium. After the few days of bad weather, the pitch on the small stadium in Turnovo wasn't suitable for a first league match and it brought too many dificulties for both teams. The play was mainly in the middle of the pitch with no serious shots on goal. In the 42nd minute, Turnovo's Dragan Georgiev sent a header but Vrteski managed to save his shot.
Turnovo continued with the small domination and finally in the 62nd minute Borce Postolov scored the winning goal which brought the three points for Turnovo and the surprising 6th position for them.