Holders Rabotnichki lost the big Skopje derby to Vardar, Pelister and Shkendija shared the points in the two derby matches of the 8th round.
Two games of Round 8 were played yesterday. The derby of the round was among them, known as the Derby of Skopje. The rivalry between Rabotnichki and Vardar dates back since 1951 when the two first met in the Yugoslav Second League. Today Vardar was the better side and took the 3 points. After around 15 minutes of play the former Rabotnichki striker Filip Petkovski opened the score thanks to an assist by Hovhannes Hambardzumyan. Ten minutes into the second half Vardar was taking a free kick when Ranotnichki’s captain Bazhe Todorovski played with hand in the box. Vardar’s captain Zlatko Tanevski took the penalty, but Damjan Shishkovski saved it. The ball rebounded back to Tanevski who this time didn’t have problems scoring on an empty goal.
In the other game Renova hosted Turnovo in Tetovo. A tough game that saw many yellow cards, most of them for the visitors. Najdenov and Kochoski brought Turnovo a 2:0 lead before Bujchevski brought Renova back to life. A glimmer of hope for the hosts brought the expulsion of Najdenov in the 65th minute when he collected his second yellow card. Still, it was visiting player Varelovski who score to secured the 3 points for Turnovo. In the dying moments of the game Ramadani put the final 2:3.
On Sunday, Pelister and Shkendija shared the points in a goalless draw. Both teams played a rather careful match with the hosts having several more serious chances but in the end both teams had to satisfy with a draw and one point.
Metalurg earned valuable points after losing in the last round to Turnovo. Teteks returned to Tetovo for the match against Metalurg, but that was not enough to change their form. They have noted another defeat and are stuck on the last place of the table. Metalurg celebrated a 0:1 win with the lone goal of the match being scored in the 69th minute when Tomica Petrov headed a ball home.
In Kratovo, Sileks could have continued their fine form on the match against Bregalnica, but the away team managed to save a point from this difficult trip. The hosts took the lead first, early in the match through Duranski who opened the scoreline in the 15th minute. Sileks had numerous chances afterwards, but instead doubling their lead and making way towards new three points, it was Bregalnica who leveled things. Velkovski fired a shot from around 16 meters and the ball ended behind Nikov’s back and into the net. That turned out to be the final goal of the match.
Highlights of all matches:
Rabotnichki – Vardar 0:2 (0:1)
16′ Filip Petkovski, 56′ Zlatko Tanevski
Renova – Turnovo 2:3 (0:1)
60′ Antonio Bujchevski, 90′ Emran Ramadani – 39′ Bojan Najdenov, 46′ Valentin Kochoski, 72′ Aleksandar Varelovski
Pelister – Shkendija 0:0
Teteks – Metalurg 0:1 (0:0)
69′ Tomica Petrov
Sileks – Bregalnica 1:1 (1:0)
15′ Filip Duranski – 77′ Slavche Velkovski