Partizan complete title hat-trick
Thursday, May 13, 2010
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Unbeaten all season, FK Partizan have wrapped up their third consecutive Serbian title with one game to spare following a 3-0 victory at OFK Beograd, to the delight of new coach Aleksandar Stanojević.
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Unbeaten FK Partizan have been crowned Serbian champions for the third year in succession after a 3-0 win at OFK Beograd on Thursday.
The Belgrade club knew three points in the penultimate round of matches would be enough to secure the title regardless of what rivals FK Crvena Zvezda could manage, and duly registered their sixth successive victory courtesy of goals from Cléo, Brana Ilić and Radosav Petrović. Crvena Zvezda, meanwhile, surprisingly lost 3-1 at home lowly BSK Borča, slipping seven points behind Partizan ahead of the final round of matches on Sunday.
Partizan coach Aleksandar Stanojević said: "I am delighted. I could not have imagined a better start to my coaching career here and a better end to this season for my club. We deserve to be top because we were the best team over the course of the season, winning 23 games and drawing six without any defeats. I congratulate my players; they deserve to celebrate now and we will be even stronger in the future."
The 36-year-old Stanojević, who represented Partizan, FK Obilić, OFK Beograd, Club Atlético de Madrid and RCD Mallorca as a midfielder, was previously coach of Serbia's Under-19 team and took over from Goran Stevanović on 16 April with his side four points adrift of their main rivals. As Serbian champions, Partizan will enter the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League in the second qualifying round.