Abdula scores his goal; photo: Shkendija

Overview of Round 30 in the First League

Abdula scores his goal; photo: ShkendijaVardar could not clinch the league title after falling 1:0 to Shkendija, while Rabotnichki inched within three points of the table leaders after downing Metalurg 2:0. Two rounds remain in the championship play-offs.

In Prilep, Bregalnica continued their winning ways with a narrow 1:0 win over Pelister. In what was an emotional game after the events that transpired in Kumanovo, Bregalnica dealt Pelister a big blow when it comes to its future in the First League. Bregalnica was much better in the 1st half and scored what proved to be the only goal in the 44th minute on a close range header by Boško Stupić. The player spent the first half of the season with Pelister, so he came back to hurt his former club. Pelister did have more of the initiative in the 2nd half, but Bregalnica was difficult to break down and they held on to the 1:0 win.

Video of the goal by Bregalnica:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=JWiavFZs1kc

Pelister: Dragojević, Petreski, Todorovski, Chesmedjiev, Velkoski, Stajev, Ljamchevski (46′ Stanojević), Anastasov, Milenkovski, Tsirlidis, Biljali (46′ Smokovski).

Bregalnica: Gachevski, Gjoreski, Tonev, Stojanov, Blazheski, Mitrev, Ristovski, Zdravkov (88′ Nikovski), Velkovski, Kocev (54′ Iliev), Stupić.

The Pelister defeat was welcome news to struggling side Turnovo. They had problems with Teteks today, but two late goals by Dragan Gjorgiev proved to be the difference. Turnovo even played with 10 men for nearly an hour after captain Sashko Pandev received his third red card of the season. Pandev is a very emotional player and there are times when he just snaps. That happened again today, leading to his third direct red card. However, the substitute Gjorgiev, formerly a player of Mainz in Germany, utilized his pace late in the game to score two goals. The win by Turnovo restored their four point lead over Pelister. The club from Bitola will have three rounds to catch Turnovo, or face being relegated alongside Teteks.

Turnovo: Zahov, Tashev, Djinov, Iliev, Milushev, Ivanov, Kochoski (60′ Stoilov), Markov (49′ Gjorgiev), Tanushev, Najdenov, Pandev.

Teteks: Manchevski, Stojchevski (65′ Kostadinov), Drobarov, Filipovski (46′ Oslonovskiy), Popzlatanov, Bozhinovski, Stojkovski, Adem, Nachevski, Hristov, Churlinov (67′ Pavlov).

On a neutral pitch in Kichevo, Shkendija managed to edge Vardar 1:0. In what was a rather dull game with few quality chances, Shkendija scored the only goal in the 80th minute. Left-back Djelil Abdula scored a nice individual goal after some terrible defending by Vardar. Abdula easily dribbled past several Vardar players before firing a shot from close range past keeper Tome Pachovski. On the other end, Vardar’s attack was underwhelming and wasteful in the few chances that it did create.

Highlights of the game:

Shkendija: Jovanovski, Todorovski, Bejtulai, Polozhani, Abdula, Demiri, Alimi (86′ Berisha), Totre (59′ Useini), Juffo, Stênio Júnior, Kirovski (74′ Idrissou).

Vardar: Pachovski, Grozdanoski, Grncharov, Bojović, Popov, Spirovski, Gligorov, Ibričić, Petkovski (61′ Ivanovski), Asani (68′ Ljamchevski), Blazhevski.

Rabotnichki, the defending league champions, stayed alive in the title race. Two goals, one by Bazhe Ilijoski and other by Chuma Anene, led them to a 2:0 home victory over Metalurg. Rabotnichki trimmed the Vardar lead to three points, but there are only two rounds remaining and Vardar holds the first tiebreaker in case of a tie (head-to-head record). Thus, it will still take a miracle for Rabotnichki to overtake Vardar this season. Also, the goal by Ilijoski was his 100th in the Macedonian First League.

Ilijoski celebrating his goal number 100; photo: telegraf.mk

Rabotnichki: Efremov, Siljanovski, Velkovski, Dodevski, Cikarski, Petrovikj (75′ Ilievski), Trajchevski (46′ Vujčić), Markoski, Anene, Altiparmakovski, Ilijoski (87′ Ristovski).

Metalurg: Dimovski, Ristovski, Petrov, Ilieski, Gjorgievski (56′ Shoposki), V. Stojanovski (60′ Bujchevski), Bakracheski, Angelov, Jakimoski (62′ Tanturovski), A. Stojanovski, Radeski.

In the other game on Tuesday, Sileks surprised Renova by winning 1:0 on the road. Filip Duranski, a former member of the U21 youth national team, netted the lone goal in the 37th minute. The Renova loss, coupled with the Shkendija win, meant that Shkendija clinched third place (last automatic spot that leads to Europa League qualifications). Renova, by being in 4th place, will be hoping that Rabotnichki beats Teteks in the cup final to secure a spot in the same Europa League qualifications.

Renova: Neziri, Musliu, Imeri (62′ Markovski), Mishkovski, Velija, Bajrami (71′ Ramadani), Mojsov, Selmani (71′ Skenderi), Jusufi, Gafuri, Emini.

Sileks: Nikov, Timovski, Janev, Mickov, Djonov, Bagashovski, Jakov, Duranski (79′ Acevski), Velinov, Nedeljković (58′ Todorov), Gorgiev.

Round 30 results:

Pelister – Bregalnica 0:1
44′ Boško Stupić

Turnovo – Teteks 2:0
84′, 87′ Dragan Gjorgiev

Shkendija – Vardar 1:0
80′ Dјelil Abdula

Rabotnichki – Metalurg 2:0
11′ Bazhe Ilijoski, 61′ Chuma Anene

Renova – Sileks 0:1
37′ Filip Duranski

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