Naftagas and Metalac GM played out a goalless draw in the Prva Liga on Saturday evening. The result leaves both sides level on five points after seven matches, sitting one place apart in the table. It was a match where chances were thin on the ground and the whistle brought little in the way of excitement.
The first half carried little threat, though the atmosphere grew tense as the clock moved on. L. Rochester picked up a yellow card in the twenty-fifth minute, and by then L. Milojevic had already been booked. He received a second booking just a minute later, thirty-two minutes in, which added a layer of friction to proceedings. The hosts struggled to find rhythm against a Metalac side that sat deep and looked to counter.
Both managers turned to the kids as the second half began, making double changes at the break. B. Mijailovic and L. Rochester were withdrawn together for Naftagas, while S. Ilic and S. Trajkovic came on for Metalac. The substitutions were meant to spark something but the game remained stuck in neutral. U. Vukicevic went offside for a yellow in the sixty-sixth minute, another moment of frustration rather than opportunity.
More bodies came off the pitch as the match wore on. Y. Koffi and M. Goronjic replaced players in the sixty-first and sixty-third minutes, followed by O. Lukovic and V. Topalovic at seventy. Naftagas pushed for an opening but the pitch cut up badly under the pressure, and the ball ran dead in the midfield. Metalac had their own moments but could not carry the side into the final third effectively.
The final quarter produced a flurry of bookings that said more about nerves than football. An unnamed player was carded at eighty-two, M. Marsenic at eighty-three, and then E. Egeoluoha and M. Ozegovic both went off in the eighty-sixth minute. I. Kovacevic came on for Naftagas at seventy-seven, trying to add energy, while M. Savanovic arrived at eighty-five for Metalac. V. Siladji and another player received yellows in stoppage time, bringing the total to ten cards across the ninety minutes.
Both teams remain in the lower reaches of the table with identical records. Naftagas sit thirteenth and Metalac fourteenth, each with one win, two draws and four losses. The result extends a run of results that have been difficult for both sides. What it means for the season remains to be seen, but for now neither side has moved forward.