Radnicki Kragujevac and Crvena Zvezda will play in the final match of the Serbian Cup tomorrow.
The Final Four started today at the “Milan Gale Muskatirovic” pool in Belgrade.
Radnicki, the winner of the Cup in the previous season, defeated the Serbian league leader Novi Beograd in the derby of the semifinals. Radnicki started slowly but scored eight goals (!) in the second quarter and that was vital for a 13:9 victory.
In the other match, Crvena Zvezda defeated Partizan harder than it was expected – 9:7.
2020/21 Serbian Cup Final Four
Semifinals
Partizan – Crvena Zvezda 7:9 (2:3, 2:2, 1:3, 2:1)
Partizan: Barac 4, Andrin 2, Mitrovic 1.
Crvena Zvezda: Subotic 6, Kasum 1, Tankosic 1, Vukicevic 1.
Radnicki – Novi Beograd 13:9 (1:4, 8:2, 3:2, 1:1)
KVK Radnicki Kragujevac: Rasovic 7, M. Radulovic 2, Lukic 2, Krug 1, Stanojevic 1.
Novi Beograd 011: Cuk 3, Tomic 2, Martinovic 1, Nikolov 1, Asanovic 1, Avramovic 1
The young team of Partizan fought bravely, but it didn’t surprise Crvena Zvezda in the encounter between the Belgrade-based rivals. The match was an even contest for almost two quarters. The score was 4:4 in the 15th minute. In the last minute of the second quarter, Crvena Zvezda earned a 5:4 lead and added three goals after the middle break for a solid 8:4 lead. Partizan couldn’t come back after that 0:4 series. The man of the match was Gavril Subotic, who was Partizan’s best scorer five years ago. Subotic, who arrived at Crvena Zvezda a few months ago, scored six goals.
Novi Beograd 011 opened the second semifinal excellently. The team coached by Vladimir Vujasinovic, who finished 2nd in the voting for the Total Player 2020 Award, earned a 4:0 advantage. Radnicki its first goal scored a few seconds before the first break (1:4). Radnicki equalized with three quick goals in the early phase of the second period, while Strahinja Rasovic put the titleholder in front (5:4) in the 13th minute. Milos Cuk halted Radnicki’s stunning 5:0 series and leveled the score from a penalty (5:5). The Belgrade-based side equalized once more (6:6), but Radnicki, led by Rasovic, scored three goals by halftime and entered the second half leading 9:6.
Nikola Lukic converted a man-up early in the third period, and, for the first time, the distance between the sides was four goals – 10:6. Novi Beograd responded with two goals for 8:10. In the last two and a half minutes of this quarter, Strahinja Rasovic added two more goals to his tally (one with a double man-up) and the Kragujevac-based side regained a 4-goal advantage before the final period (12:8).
Both teams tightened their defenses in the last period. Only two goals were scored, and Radnicki kept the advantage.
Strahinja Rasovic, with seven goals, was a hero of the win. One of the key factors was the fact that Radnicki’s defense managed to shut out Novi Beograd’s Drasko Gogov, the best scorer of the Serbian League, who didn’t find the net today.
This was Novi Beograd’s first loss in the domestic season. In the league match between these two teams, Novi Beograd earned an 11:8 victory.
Before the game Radnicki vs. Crvena Zvezda, the final match of the Serbian Cup for ladies will be played tomorrow. Palilula and Vojvodina advanced to the final after they won the first two places in the group stage.
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