Novi Beograd won its first trophy in the season and the second title of the Serbian Championships.
The host of the Final Eight beat Crvena Zvezda 14:7 in the second match of the final and finished the series without playing a third game.
It isn’t hard to single out the best player in the game. Alvaro Granados was outstanding. He netted 10 goals!
2021/22 Serbian League, playoffs, Final (best of three) 2nd match
Crvena Zvezda – Novi Beograd 7:14 (1:2, 2:3, 3:4, 1:5) – the score in the series 0:2
Crvena Zvezda: Misovic, Tankosic, Gajic, Markovic 1, Subotic 2, Vasic 1, B.Banicevic, Basara 2, Vukicevic 1, Seman, Milojevic, Radovic, Ivanovic, Dankovic. Head coach: Filipovic.
Novi Beograd: Filipovic, S.Rasovic, Martinovic, Granados 10, Vucinic 1, Pijetlovic 1, Drasovic, Jaksic, Perkovic 2, Vlachopoulos, Skoumpakis, V.Rasovic, Pedro Coimbra, Shushiashvili. Head coach: Gocic.
There were few goals in the first half, but it was a high-intensity game. Both defenses worked well and prevented the game from turning into a high-scoring contest.
Dusan Vasic gave Crvena Zvezda a 1:0 lead in the 1st minute, but after that, Novi Beograd kept Crvena Zvezda goalless for over 12 minutes. The visitors’ deep defense kept Crvena Zvezda far from their goal. Crvena Zvezda created a few excellent opportunities from a perimeter, but they hit the posts or Pedro posted a few saves.
Alvaro Granados Photo by Slobodan Sandic/Water Polo Federation of Serbia
Granados leveled at 1:1 quickly after Crvena Zvezda’s first goal. The Spaniard put the visitors in front with a penalty shot to set the score of the first half. Midway through the second quarter, Novi Beograd scored three goals within 01:33 minutes, which was on of the turning points. Centre-forward Miroslav Perkovic opened the series. Then, unstoppable Alvaro Granados added two goals (one from a counterattack and the other from a 6 on 6), and Novi Beograd built a significant 5:1 lead in the 13th minute. But, Crvena Zvezda’s attack “woke up”. Basara ended his team’s long silence with a power play goal for 2:5. By the end of the first half, SUbotic reduced the gap to two (3:5).
At halftime, Novi Beograd’s head coach Zivko Gocic switched goalkeepers – Filipovic replaced Pedro.
Early in the fourth, Novi Beograd rebuilt a 3-goal lead, after an action goal from Vucinic. However, Crvena Zvezda didn’t surrender and came very close quickly (5:6, 6:7). But, after Crvena Zvezda’s seventh’ goal, Granados responded with two and Novi Beograd entered the final quarter with a 9:6 advantage. A hard battle continued after the last break. But, the contest was practically over in the middle of the fourth period. Milos Vukicevic woke Crvena Zvezda’s hope converting a 6 on 5 to reduce the gap to two (7:9). Immediately after, Perkovic scored for Novi Beograd. Granados netted his 8th goal, once again, from a counterattack. Novi Beograd went to 11:7 and Crvena Zvezda couldn’t come back. At the finish, the visitors added three goals.
Zivko Gocic Photo by Slobodan Sandic/Water Polo Federation of Serbia
Zivko Gocic, Novi Beograd’s head coach, congratulated to his players and the rival, and said:
“As with almost all finals, this one was a challenging game. Crvena Zvezda was a formidable opponent. As for Novi Beograd, Alvaro Granados displayed a historic performance. I can’t remember when a player scored 10 goals in an important game like the final. However, he had good backing from other players. We overcome some difficult moments in the last few months. I thank to my players who endured the crisis and won the trophy. But, the season isn’t over. The Serbian title is a good motivation before the Final Eight.
We asked Alvaro Granados if he could remember a game when he scored 10 goals:
“I really can’t. Maybe it happened a long time ago in Spain. But, I had never netted ten goals before in such an important encounter. When I got out of the water, I thought that it was a dream and that I had to wake up. – he said with a smile” Today, we played very well in attack, our defense was solid. I think we are on the right track”.
Crvena Zvezda’s head coach Aleksandar Filipovic congratulated Novi Beograd on the title and his players on an excellent season:
“We didn’t prolong the series to the third match. Today, we couldn’t find solutions for their counterattacks. All in all, their individual quality was decisive. But, Crvena Zvezda resullts in this season were over expectations. The guys proved they were a real team. “
All champions (2007 – 2023): Partizan 10,Crvena Zvezda 2, , Novi Beograd 2, Sabac 1, Radnicki 1.
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