In an interesting match both capital city rivals shared the points as the Round 4 started today. Akademija Pandev recorded the first win by beating Struga, Belasica scored the first seasonal goal but lost once again, Pelister lost for the first time as Shkupi beat them with a late goal, Sileks took over the top (tied with Shkipu) as Shkendija failed to beat Borec.

photo by FK Rabotnichki Skopje: captain Goran Siljanovski between Vardar players

Rabotnichki and Vardar played the 91st Derby of Skopje. The young team of Vardar impressed today and even deserved to win. Rabotnichki was the favorite, but disappointed. Both teams had chances to score more goals. Vardar broke the dead lock in the 59th minute after Filip Petkovski perfectly assisted to captain Darko Micevski who launched a great shot leaving Risto Jankov powerless.

Rabotnichki equalized through 17-year-old substitute Luka Stankovski after Milosh Tosheski’s free kick found him at the far post. It was his debut goal in the top flight.

It was the 91st derby in which for the 23rd time the local rivals shared the points. Vardar leads with 36 wins, while Rabotnichki has 32. The first derby was played in 1951 in the Second Yugoslav league.

National Arena Toshe Proeski in Skopje
Rabotnichki – Vardar 1:1 (0:0)
Goals: 76′ Luka Stankovski – 59′ Darko Micevski
Referee: Dimitar Mechkarovski (Skopje)

After three straight losses, Akademija Pandev eventually managed to win. A late goal five minutes from time by Krstovski was enough to edge visiting Struga.

Blagoj Istatov stadium in Strumica
Akademija Pandev – Struga 1:0 (0:0)
Goals: 85′ Mario Krstovski
Referee: Bobi Velichkov (Veles)

The second Strumica based club remains the lone team without a single points. Belasica today lost on the road at Makedonija GjP, but at least they managed to score their first goal this season when Kalanoski equalized in the 7th minute.

Gjorche Petrov stadium in Skopje
Makedonija GjP – Belasica 2:1 (2:1)
Goals: 3′ Sefer Emini, 36′ Bobi Bozhinovski – 7′ Antonio Kalanoski
Referee: Aleksandar Grujoski (Kichevo)

Due to the involvement of Shkupi, Shkendija and Renova in the Europa League the past Thursday, their matches were moved to Sunday (Shkupi) and Monday (Shkendija and Renova).

Shkupi missed several chance to break the dead lock in the opening 45 minutes against Pelister. Captain Besar Iseni in the 33rd minute had the greatest chance as he hit the left post after firing a great shot from almost 30 meters. Ten minutes later the hosts were awarded a penalty kick after Kristijan Nikolovski brought down Sabit Bilali in the box. This time Iseni hit the crossbar and once again the fortune saved Pelister. Shkupi waited for the winner until two minutes from time when Darboe scored his 6th seasonal goal.

Chair stadium in Skopje
Shkupi – Pelister 1:0 (0:0)
Goals: 88′ Dembo Darboe
Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev

Borec took a surprising lead after 19 minutes of play. Nikola Prelčec went into a counter attack and beautifully served Stankovski in the book who netted a goal. Later Shkendija equalized after Albanian midfielder Dita headed hard a through ball.

Gradski stadium in Tetovo
Shkendija – Borec 1:1 (1:1)
Goals: 34′ Bruno Dita – 19′ Mario Stankovski
Referee: Igor Stojchevski (Skopje)

Sileks recorded the third win to stay on top of the table. Renova took the lead through Ramadani, but in the last few minutes before the break the hosts turned the result in their favor and in the second half added another goal.

Sileks stadium in Kratovo
Sileks – Renova 3:1 (2:1)
Goals: 43′, 59′ Pepi Gorgiev, 45’+1 Denis Ristov – 8′ Emran Ramadani
Red cards: 69′ Emran Ramadani (R)
Referee: Marjan Mladenovski (Skopje)