Bragalnica Skopje beat Aresimi 4-0 on Saturday evening in the First League's regular season second round. The hosts ran out winners at their ground, adding three points to their tally with a performance that showed they have hit a wall against a side that struggled to find footing.
M. Maksimov opened the scoring in the twenty-eighth minute, giving Bragalnica a lead they would not relinquish. M. Stojanov doubled the advantage after the interval, and D. Tasev closed the game out late on. To be fair, Aresimi never really threatened to get back into it.
The away side's possession did not translate into anything meaningful. They held 59 per cent of the ball and managed nine corners, yet could only muster five shots on target. Bragalnica, with 41 per cent possession, were more efficient, landing two shots on target and three off target.
By then, the statistics told a simple story. Aresimi registered 94 attacks against 81 for the hosts, but Bragalnica's shot accuracy of 40 per cent outperformed the visitors' 36 per cent. The difference between the two sides was not in volume, but in execution.
Bragalnica now sit eighth with six points from six games, their record of two wins and four defeats unchanged. Aresimi remain seventh on seven points, their solitary draw offering little comfort after three defeats. The gap between them is narrowing, but the quality gap on the pitch remained evident.