February 5, 2020 – Rijeka and Dinamo met in the quarter-final of the Croatian Cup at 5 pm at Rujevica stadium in Rijeka. The match was supposed to be played on December 3, but was postponed due to Dinamo’s commitments in the Champions League.
In the remaining quarter-final game of the Croatian Cup, Rijeka welcomed Dinamo at its home stadium Rujevica at 5 pm. Recall, Rijeka celebrated in the final last year for the 2019 Croatian Cup title, which was one of the few major defeats of coach Nenad Bjelica on the Dinamo bench.
Rijeka was the first to score on Wednesday thanks to a header by Čolak in the 15th minute for 1:0 and the early lead.
Dinamo had a great opportunity to equalize in the 20th minute after a poorly deflected ball found Petkovic on the far post.
The strong bura wind helped neither team for the remainder of the first half, which ended 1:0 for Rijeka.
Both teams kept the same lineup going into the second half.
Rijeka had another stellar opportunity in the 70th minute after a counterattack that started in their defense ended in Štefulj shooting far post, nearly missing the goal.
Dinamo coach Bjelica made two substitutions three minutes later, though, with five minutes to go, Dinamo was still unable to equalize.
The referee added five minutes of injury time to the clock, which could not help the Croatian champion.
As the final whistle blew, it was Rijeka to claim the 1:0 victory.
Today’s winner will play in the semi-final against Osijek, while the other semi-final will feature Slaven Belupo and Lokomotiva.
Interestingly, this season, Dinamo had defeated Rijeka three times – 1:0 in Supercup, 5:0 at Rujevica and 3:0 at Maksimir in the Croatian Championship.
The Croatian Football Cup is organized by the Croatian Football Federation.
To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.
