Rijeka Tops Osijek in Extra Time for Spot in Croatian Cup Final against Hajduk
Rijeka and Osijek met in the Croatian Cup semifinal at Rujevica on Wednesday. In the other semifinal played last week, Hajduk beat Gorica for a spot in the final at Poljud on May 26.
Rijeka reached the semifinal by eliminating PitomaÄa (0:7) in the last 32, Oriolik Oriovac (0:6) in the round of 16, and knocking out Dinamo in the quarterfinal at Maksimir. Goran Tomić's team celebrated 3:1 and it was also the last game for coach Damir Krznar on the Dinamo bench.
Osijek did not concede a goal on their way to the semifinal. They defeated Bednja Beletinec 0:3, then Rudeš 0:2 in the last 16, after which they hosted Slaven Belupo in the quarterfinal. Osijek and Belupo played for 120 minutes before a penalty shootout which Osijek won.
Before this Cup match, Osijek played 0:0 against Lokomotiva on Friday in the Croatian First League, while Rijeka beat Slaven Belupo 3:0 on Saturday, separating these two teams by only one point. Read more...