Zrinjski celebrated against city rival Velež

(Patria) - Zrinjski defeated Velež 3:1 in the big city derby, within the 13th round of the m:tel Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Nemanja Bilbija scoring a hat-trick.

In the first half, Brkić kept Zrinjski alive. He made two great saves. First, Radovac tried in the fourth minute, shooting over the goal, and then the 'Plemići' goalkeeper stopped a good attempt by Cvijanović.

In the 15th minute, a penalty was awarded to the home team because Zeljković fouled Filipović, and Bilbija was sure from the spot to make it 1:0. Brandao tried from a free kick in the 22nd minute, the ball went over the goal, and in the 31st minute, Anđušić had an excellent header attempt, but Brkić was phenomenal once again.

The home team's second shot on target against Velež came in the 40th minute when Stojkić shot far wide of the goal. Velež had much more possession, but went into halftime trailing by one goal.

Zrinjski started the second half of the match excellently. In the first minute, Bilbija headed past Bobić to make it 2:0. Just seven minutes later, the 'Plemići' striker completed his hat-trick for 3:0. The Velež goalkeeper saved his first shot, but he then put the rebound into the net.

In the remainder of the match, the visitors had the initiative. Ćorluka fouled Radović in the penalty area, and Irfan Peljto pointed to the spot. Mulić reduced the deficit to 3:1 from the penalty spot. Mašić had a great chance towards the end, but the score remained unchanged.

After the defeat in the city derby against Zrinjski at the Pod Bijelim brijegom stadium (3:1), Velež coach Feđa Dudić addressed the media representatives.

He began by saying:

“First of all, I must congratulate Zrinjski on the victory. But, we saw all the cruelty of football today. We dominated the first half and then, from one single mistake, no situation, we concede a goal and everything changes. That's how it was, again I say I must congratulate Zrinjski on the victory. It paid off for them for some other matches in which they deserved to win but didn't. We played today, Zrinjski scored goals, that's the summary. It was a good, watchable match, I wish we had more matches like this here.”

He then commented on the fact that he left some players on the bench.

“Practically until yesterday, Mulić and Bihorac hadn't even trained. Both had injury problems.”

He also said something about Nemanja Bilbija's excellent performance, who scored a hat-trick tonight.

“He showed what he means to Zrinjski individually. When he plays, Zrinjski plays too.”