Week 20 brings us a match on Dec 18th, where Rijeka will host Istra 1961 in a clash of the 1. HNL. The game day is forecasted to be a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 5 degrees, so hopefuly the match makes up for the weather. 2nd placed Rijeka is fresh off their 1-2 loss against Gorica. Kristijan Lovric struck first for Gorica in the 64th minute on a feed from Matthew Steenvoorden, then Younes Delfi added another in the 76th minute on a feed from Josip Mitrović. With 17 points in their last 10 matches Rijeka should be reasonably happy with their performance, while in their last match, 8th placed Istra 1961, recorded a 3-0 shutout win against Hrvatski Dragovoljac. Abdallahi Mahmoud struck first for Istra 1961 in the 19th minute, then Hassane Bandé added another in the 27th minute on a feed from Drena Dijon In the end, Hrvatski Dragovoljac couldn’t muster any offence and Istra 1961 ran away with the shutout win. Istra 1961 is looking for direction having earned 11 points in their last 10 matches.
On the 2nd of October, Istra 1961 hosted Rijeka in their last match together. Rijeka was victorious by a score of 6 to 3. João Silva struck first for Istra 1961 in the 18th minute, then Anton Krešić got the equalizer for Rijeka in the 24th minute on a feed from Haris Vučkić But luckily in the 32nd minute, they were able to complete the comback with a goal by Domagoj Pavicic.
Istra 1961’s top weapon lately has been Robert Mišković, who has two goals in the last five matches. Robert Murić has been on a hot streak lately. In the last five games, the attacker has scored four goals for Rijeka.