On the 19th of March, in this week 26 match, Istra 1961 will host Lokomotiva Zagreb in a meeting of these two closely matched 1. HNL teams. Weather on match day is looking like a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 11 degrees, a perfect day for football. 5th placed Istra 1961 is fresh off their 1-0 shutout win against Dinamo Zagreb. Darwin Matheus scored the first goal for Istra 1961 in the %Minute minute of the %HalfNumber half’s stoppage time, and that was all the excitement the two teams could muster In the end, Dinamo Zagreb was frustrated by Istra 1961’s defence and couldn’t put any tallies on the board. Istra 1961 ended the match with the shutout victory. Istra 1961 is looking for direction having 4 win and 4 losses in their last 10 matches, while in their last match, 8th placed Lokomotiva Zagreb, recorded a 1-0 shutout win against Slaven Koprivnica. Vinko Soldo scored the first goal for Lokomotiva Zagreb on an own goal in the 47th minute, and that single goal was all that was necessary as neither team could manage any more scoring In the end, Slaven Koprivnica couldn’t muster any offence and Lokomotiva Zagreb ran away with the shutout win. With 17 points in their last 10 matches Lokomotiva Zagreb should be reasonably happy with their performance.
On Nov 12th, Lokomotiva Zagreb hosted Istra 1961 at the Stadion Kranjčevićeva in their last match together. Lokomotiva Zagreb won by a score of 2 to 0. Sandro Kulenović scored the first goal for Lokomotiva Zagreb in the 11th minute on a penalty shot, then Luka Stojkovic added another in the 73rd minute on a feed from Sandro Kulenović At the end of 90 a dissapointed Istra 1961 couldn’t manage to score, and Lokomotiva Zagreb took the shutout win.
Both Aliyu Ibrahim and Vladan Bubanja have been the hottest scorers for Lokomotiva Zagreb in the last 5 each having scored 2 goals each. Istra 1961 is lucky enough to have a few offensive weapons, with Monsef Bakrar and Darwin Matheus each having 2 goals in their last five.