Vardar defeated Teteks to move back into first place on the standings, while Renova moved only one point behind third ranked Shkendija after winning that local derby.
In the game that started the earliest on Tuesday, Rabotnichki managed to score one goal in each half to defeat Sileks. The first goal fell in the 35th minute when defender Goran Siljanovski slotted a shot to the back of the net following a corner kick from the left hand side. Sileks could not properly clear that corner, leading the ball to find Siljanovski for his goal. Early in the 2nd half, Sileks had two really good chances to level the score, but their first effort struck the post while the second was well saved by the Rabotnichki keeper. Eventually, the game was put away in the 81st minute when Bazhe Ilijoski scored an easy goal on a tap-in after he was set-up by Chuma Anene.
Rabotnichki: Bozhinovski, Ilievski, Velkovski, Siljanovski, Cikarski, Vujčić, Trajchevski, Sahiti, Anene (90′ Ristovski), Altiparmakovski (88′ Teo. Fidanoski), Ilijoski (82′ Tih. Fidanoski).
Sileks: Simov, Timovski, Mickov, Ristevski, Bagashovski, Todorov (84′ Jakov), Velinov, Acevski, Duranski, Nedeljković, Panovski.
In Skopje, Metalurg snapped their six game winless streak (4 losses and 2 draws) to beat struggling Pelister. Youngster Blagoja Naumoski opened the scoring midway through the 1st half and that lead carried into halftime. The start of the 2nd half began furiously with each team notching a goal. Ljutfi Biljali scored on a header for Pelister to make it 1:1, but Bojan Gjorgievski quickly scored on the other end to give Metalurg the advantage once again. National team member Marjan Radeski made it 3:1 in the 62nd minute to give his team some cushion.
Metalurg: Taleski, Ristovski (90′ Mitrov), Petrov, Ilievski, Gjorgievski, Tanturovski, Naumoski (72′ Bujchevski), Jevtoski (76′ Bakracheski), Angelov, Radeski, Stojanovski.
Pelister: Dragojević, Smokovski, Stepanovski, Cheshmedjiev, Krsteski (46′ Anastasov), Mustafov, Stanojević, Velkoski, Ljamchevski (72′ Mitić), Petreski, Biljali.
Meanwhile, in the third game on Tuesday, Turnovo and Bregalnica entered the match with the same number of points. By the end of it, Bregalnica would have three more points after locking up a hard fought 1:0 victory. Bosnian striker Boško Stupić scored the only goal to bring joy to the visitors from Shtip. They have now gone from 9th to 7th place since the second half of the season resumed in Macedonia.
Turnovo: Zahov, Mavrov, Mutafchiyski, Iliev, Milushev, Doriev, Tanushev, Ivanov, Najdenov, Kochoski, Krstovski (46′ Gjorgiev).
Bregalnica: Gachevski, Ristovski (83′ Iliev), Tonev, Krstov, Mitrev, Hristov, Blazhevski, Nacev, Zdravkov, Stanković, Stupić.
Vardar utilized two quick goals in the 2nd half to move back into first place. Teteks defended well in the opening hour, but a lapse in concentration led to the two goals by Vardar. The first was scored by Filip Ivanovski after he was set up by Petar Petkovski, while the second was added by Dejan Blazhevski. Petkovski, the 18-year-old, has been promoted to the first team. In Macedonia, there is a rule in the First League that one under-21 player must be featured in a team’s starting lineup. Since Jasir Asani and Filip Stojanovski (alternated for that spot) have struggled, Vardar decided to promote Petkovski, their top performer in the youth academy. He responded with a good performance today.
Vardar: Pachovski, Hambardzumyan, Grncharov, Tanevski, Grozdanoski, Gligorov, Despotovski, Ibričić (84′ Asani), P. Petkovski (77′ Spirovski), Blazhevski, Ivanovski (71′ F. Petkovski).
Teteks: Manchevski, Najdovski, Drobarov, Oslonovskiy (60′ Jovanoski), Atanaskoski, Bozhinovski, Adem (67′ Pavlov), Stojkovski, Nachevski (73′ Filipovski), Hristov, Churlinov.
In the local derby in Tetovo, Renova continued their good form with a narrow road victory over Shkendija. Renova manager Kjatip Osmani used to coach Shkendija, so the team dedicated this win to him. The only goal of the game was scored by Emran Ramadani in the 50th minute. Ramadani capitalized on a miscue between Shkendija’s keeper and his two central defenders by pouncing on the ball and sending an effort from close range past Marko Jovanovski. Shkendija’s task was made even tougher when two of their players, Artim Polozhani and Sedat Berisha, received red cards. For the second consecutive game, there was no sign of striker Mohammadou Idrissou. He was not included in their matchday squad and Idrissou is not even with the team right now. Shkendija has not commented on why Idrissou is not even training with them.
Shkendija: Jovanovski, Todorovski, Berisha, Polozhani, Demiri, Bojku, Alimi, Selmani (53′ Kirovski), Juffo, Stênio Júnior, Vručina (71′ Imeri).
Renova: Mustafi, Neziri, Mishkovski, Mecinovikj, Musliu, Memedi, Mojsov, Ramadani (90′ Selmani), Sadiki (75′ Velija), Emini (89′ Redjepi), Nuhiu.
Round 23 results:
Rabotnichki – Sileks 2:0 (1:0)
35′ Goran Siljanovski, 81′ Bazhe Ilijoski
Metalurg – Pelister 3:1 (1:0)
23′ Blagoja Naumoski, 47′ Bojan Gjorgievski, 62′ Marjan Radeski – 46′ Ljutfi Biljali
Turnovo – Bregalnica 0:1 (0:0)
61′ Boško Stupić
Vardar – Teteks 2:0 (0:0)
63′ Filip Ivanovski, 64′ Dejan Blazhevski
Shkendija – Renova 0:1 (0:1)
50′ Emran Ramadani