Rudar saw off Krka 3-0 at home in the Second SNL regular season on Friday night. The result lifts the hosts to 11th in the table while the visitors drop further down at 14th. By then, Rudar had already paid for a sloppy opening by taking control early.
D. Simic opened the scoring in the 73rd minute, a goal that gave the home side breathing room. J. Perkovic doubled the advantage in the 88th, and a third goal landed in stoppage time at 90+2. To be fair, the match was never really in doubt once the first strike went in.
Rudar sit on six points from five games, with two wins and three defeats. Krka have four points from the same number of outings, one win, one draw, and three losses. The visitors have not kept a clean sheet on the spin, conceding in four of their last five matches.
The home side's recent run shows they can bounce back—three goals against Krsko last time out before a 2-2 draw with Dekani. Krka's form has been harder to read: a 0-0 with Bistriza on 7 August followed a heavy 4-0 defeat to Hrvatski Dragovoljac. The draw brought them together early in the season, but this was a different story.
And here's the thing: Rudar's goal difference sits at -2 after five games, while Krka are on -8. The win does not change anyone's ambitions, but it gives the home side something to build on. The visitors will need to find a way to keep things tight if they want to climb out of the bottom half.