Only one team could emerge victorious from the amazing cup final between Partizan Belgrade and Vojvodina, and eventually it was the Red and Whites from Novi Sad.
After seeing a 2-0 lead vanish in the final minutes of regulation, Nenad Lalatović’s team has managed to win in penalties - giving them their second cup in history.
The game took place in the city of Niš in southern Serbia, and in front of thousands of Partizan supporters who traveled to the stadium, creating a home atmosphere for the Black and Whites.
Surprisingly, crowds were allowed to enter despite the ongoing covid-19 crisis that hit Serbian sports - with the controversy surrounding Novak Djokovic testing positive for the virus, along with many other athletes, including six Crvena Zvezda football players.
Only a fortnight ago, Partizan beat Red Star in the cup semi finals, thanks to a Bibars Natcho winner. But today, they had to watch a different Red side celebrate on their expense.
Although dominant for the most part, Partizan conceded twice due to two individual errors by defender Starhinja Pavlović: In the 37th minute, he couldn’t clear a simple ball, which eventually led to a Miljan Vukadinovič tap in. In the 56th minute, he was easily beaten by Petar Bojić who scored in a nice individual effort.
A surprising 2-0 deficit meant that Savo Milošević’s players had to go all out in order to salvage the game, and so they did. The star of the show was young 17 year-old prodigy Filip Stevanović, who is already linked to some bigger European clubs. The wonderkid scored in the 80th minute, and gave his team some hope.
The drama then peaked in stoppage time: A simple cross was mishandled by Vojvodina keeper Emil Rockov, and in the following corner from Natcho it was Pavlović who turned from zero to hero after an incredible bicycle kick, 2-2! Pandemonium at the Partizan stands.
However, in the first penalty shootout in the cup final since 2005, it was the “Tulips” from Vojvodina who produced a calm and perfected performance, scoring all four penalties, while Partizan missed two of their own.
The Novi Sad side win the cup for the second time in history, as Partizan missed a chance to make it five in a row.
Čestitam Vojvodina!
Thumbnail picture via FK Vojvodina’s official twitter account
