Struga took all three points against Vardar Skopje 1:0 in the third round of the First League on Sunday. The result leaves them third on ten points from five matches, while Vardar sit sixth on seven. It was a game decided by precision rather than dominance, and by then you could sense it would come down to moments.
There was no goal until the hour mark. H. Maleski found the net in the sixty-first minute, and that proved enough. Vardar pressed forward after the break, throwing bodies into the attack, but Struga held their shape. And here's the thing — they didn't need more than one chance to take the lead.
The visitors had possession, by and large. They saw sixty-four per cent of the ball and launched one hundred and four attacks compared to Struga's seventy-five. But shots on target were level at six apiece, and accuracy told a different story. Vardar hit forty-six per cent of their efforts on target, Struga sixty-seven, and that margin mattered when it counted.
Discipline held throughout, mostly. Four yellows for the hosts and three for the visitors, with no reds to complicate matters. D. Babunski missed a penalty in stoppage time, ninety-six minutes in, which could have changed everything. Instead, Struga ran down the clock and took their points.
What this means is straightforward. Struga move closer to establishing themselves in the upper half, building on a run that includes a clean sheet against Skopje and a three-goal victory over Skendia. Vardar, meanwhile, drop further behind after a heavy defeat to Riga earlier in the month. The gap between them widens, and the pressure shifts.