What a Serbian Cup final we watched, Crvena zvezda won the trophy after a better penalty shootout 5:4 (2:2)! Through Sič and Vidosavljević, the team from Novi Sad led, Arnautović reduced the lead, and Rodrigao scored in the sixth minute of stoppage time for extra time. Penalties decided it in the end, Zvezda was more successful, Mateus saved the fifth penalty from John Mary and brought the sixth consecutive double crown to the Serbian champion.
The match was delayed by 30 minutes, and after only 120 seconds, a shock arrived for Zvezda directed by Sič, who was the most resourceful in the penalty area of the Serbian champion, following an assist from Njegoš Petrović.
A period followed in which Dejan Stanković’s team attacked; Katai and Elšnik threatened, but the red-and-whites failed to outsmart the excellent Rosić in the Vojvodina goal.
Marko Arnautović had an incredible miss, failing to hit the entire goal from only two to three meters away following a pass from Bruno Duarte.
Milutin Vidosavljević punished all of Zvezda’s misses, managing to overcome Mateus in the 35th minute and doubling the lead for the Novi Sad team, and the teams went to the break with that result.
The continuation brought a stoppage first, as both fan groups set off flares, and only a few moments later, Marko Arnautović scored on an assist from Nair Tiknizyan. The second part of the match was marked by a large number of interruptions, but also bickering among the players themselves; after one such situation, Nair Tiknizyan received a yellow card.
After an hour of play, Zvezda threatened through Arnautović, but the Austrian striker shot poorly and there was no need for Rosić to worry. The fact that it was very uncertain even off the pitch is shown by the data that Pavle Ilić had to send off Ljubiša Dunđerski, the assistant coach of Vojvodina.
With 15 minutes to go, Duarte threatened, however, Rosić intervened once more.
As the match drew to a close, Zvezda attacked more and more, but failed to reach a concrete chance. And just when it seemed there would be no more time, Rodrigao used a pass from Seol and shook Rosić’s net from about ten meters away, so the match went into extra time.
The first extra time did not bring many opportunities, so the decision fell in the last 15 minutes, but even in the second continuation, apart from some half-chances, there were no opportunities worth mentioning – everything came down to the penalty shootout.
Vladimir Lučić was imprecise for Zvezda, but on the other side, Mladenović and John Mary missed their penalties.
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Source: Telegraf.rs, Photo: Facebook / FK Crvena zvezda