Dinamo continue Croatian charge

NK Dinamo Zagreb lie four points clear at the summit as the Croatian First Division reaches its halfway point, but things are far less encouraging at champions HNK Hajduk Split.

Golden Da Silva
Dinamo Zagreb ended last season a lowly seventh after a torrid campaign marred by inconsistency, but Josip Kuže's side have been rejuvenated this term. Since their goalless draw against Hajduk last month, they have claimed maximum points from their subsequent four fixtures, conceding just once as they racked up 15 goals. Much of their success has been down to the form of Eduardo Da Silva, who has already registered nine times this term for a side averaging three goals a game.

Goalkeeping bounty
A watertight defence has also contributed to a growing sense of invincibility surrounding the team; so much so that daily newspaper 24sata offered a 10,000 Kuna (€1,360) bounty for the player that finally breached Ivan Turina's stubborn resistance. The goalkeeper himself would have taken the prize had he smashed Dragan Stojkić's league record of 684 minutes and gone on to pass 1,000 minutes but his hopes were ended shy of the record when Robert Mesic scored in a 5-1 win over NK Medjimurje – only the third time Turina has been beaten this term.

Hajduk flounder
The party atmosphere at the Holjud stadium contrasts markedly with the turbulent events at Hajduk, after the club followed up the draw at Dinamo Zagreb with defeat by second-placed HNK Rijeka. That result saw the end of Miroslav Blažević's reign at the helm, and he was replaced by former Croatia Under-17 coach Ivan Gudelj, who watched as his new charges came from 2-0 down to salvage a share of the spoils against NK Inter in the last ten minutes. Victory over NK Varteks followed but a disappointing draw against strugglers NK Slaven Koprivnica on Saturday leaves them 12 points behind the leaders.

Coaching changes
They are also eight adrift of second-placed Rijeka who have won four of their last five, while Varteks lie third. Meanwhile, at the foot of the table, three of the bottom four sides changed coaches. Milivoj Bračun has replaced Igor Pamić at NK Pula 1856, while Davor Mladina makes way for Branko Karačić at HNK Cibalia. Meanwhile, Srećko Bogdan has become sports director at NK Inter Zaprešic, with former assistant Djuro Bago taking the helm.