Comfortably leading the pack a few weeks back, points dropped by Rijeka and Hajduk Split have enabled struggling Dinamo Zagreb to re-enter HNL Championship contention.
A disappointing 0-2 loss for Rijeka and a hard-fought draw for Hajduk was capitalised upon by a dominant win by Dinamo under new leadership.
Meanwhile, the goals keep flowing for the young Aussie-Croats who lead the charge in a thrilling Golden Boot race.
Over in Europe, a Vatreni duo helped claim a crucial win in a high-profile European hunt.
Vjesnik’s Jake Holub wraps up the week in national and international football, through a Croatian lens, covering Aussie-Croats, Croats in Europe and the HNL.
A-League: Young Croats unstoppable amid Finals charge
Playing out a Premiership deciding fixture, Western Sydney Wanderers’ Nicolas Milanović did all he could to take Melbourne City out of the Premiers Plate contention.
Opening the scoring with an excellent curling finish into the bottom corner in the ninth minute, Milanović just four minutes later forced an own goal to take the Wanderers 2-0 up.
While Melbourne City came back to secure a 2-2 draw, the 23-year-old’s performance was the talk of the night, scoring his 12th goal of the A-League Men’s campaign.
However, this wasn’t enough to take him to the top of the charts after Adrian Segečić took his goal tally to 13 in the league in Sydney FC’s 3-2 win over the Newcastle Jets.
Meanwhile, Marin Jakoliš‘ two-assist performance in Macarthur FC’s 2-2 draw with the Central Coast Mariners sees the former Hajduk winger lead the league in goal contributions, recording nine goals and 11 assists.
Providing an assist and playing all 90 minutes in Adelaide United’s 3-2 win over Wellington Phoenix, Ethan Alagich helped his side to a crucial three points in their charge to secure a top-six position.
Europe: Manchester City duo vital in bolt for Champions League
Facing the tricky task of taking on Everton at Goodison Park, Joško Gvardiol and Mateo Kovačić played an important part in claiming an important three points.
Gvardiol played the entirety of the game in the heart of defence, while Kovačić scored the goal to seal City’s 2-0 win in Merseyside.
While City took an important step in securing UEFA Champions League football next season, Luka Modrić‘s Real Madrid were knocked out of the competition after a disappointing 1-2 loss to Arsenal at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Modrić was able to reclaim his starting position in Madrid’s league fixture against Athletic Bilbao, displaying his permanent class in a 1-0 win.
Josip Stanišić‘s Bayern Munich suffered the same fate as Real Madrid after being unable to overturn their Champions League quarter-final tie against Inter Milan, but responded well with the 25-year-old defender starring in a convincing 4-0 away win over FC Heidenheim in the Bundesliga.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Croats in Europe’s continental tournaments, with Marin Pongračić providing an assist to help Fiorentina progress through to the UEFA Conference League semi-final.
Here are some other performances from Croats in Europe worth noting:
- Ante Budimir scored a brace in Osasuna’s 3-2 win over Real Valladolid, taking his season’s tally to 21 goals in all competitions.
- Andrej Kramarić scored his 11th goal of the season for Hoffenheim.
- Mario Pašalić played all 90 minutes in Atalanta’s 1-0 away win over AC Milan.
- Dion Beljo scored Rapid Wien’s sole goal in a loss to Wolfsberger AC.
HNL: The plot thickens amid scurry for top of the pile
Trailing eight points behind the league-leading Hajduk Split just two weeks back, Dinamo Zagreb have halved this deficit with two consecutive wins.
Kicking off action for Round 30, Dinamo continued their forward momentum with an eye-catching 4-0 win over Šibenik.
Returning to the starting XI, Sandro Kulenović made his claim for the starting nine position by scoring a brace.
Falling a goal behind to Varaždin late in the first half, a penalty won and converted by starman Marko Livaja ensured Hajduk Split came away with a point.
That point was enough for Hajduk to jump level on points with Rijeka, who were defeated at the hands of Istra 1961.
While Rijeka and Hajduk continue to lead the pack on 56 points each, Dinamo have barged back into HNL title contention on 52 points with six rounds remaining.