On Friday Mar 3rd, in week 24, Rijeka will travel to Pula to battle 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 9 degrees, which will make playing unpleasant. 5th placed Istra 1961 is fresh off their 0-0 scoreless draw against Šibenik. Neither Šibenik nor Istra 1961 could manage to put one past the goalie. They had 9 and 4 shots on net respectively, but no one could score, and the match ended in a 0 – 0 draw,. Istra 1961 should be reasonably happy with their recent performance, earning 18 points in their last 10 matches, while in their last match, 7th placed Rijeka, recorded a 0-1 loss against Slaven Koprivnica. Crnac scored the first goal for Slaven Koprivnica in the 85th minute, and that single goal was all that was necessary as neither team could manage any more scoring In the end, Rijeka couldn’t muster any offence and Slaven Koprivnica ran away with the shutout win. Rijeka is looking for direction having 5 win and 4 losses in their last 10 matches.
In their last match together, Istra 1961 won by a score of 1 to 0. Ante Erceg struck first for Istra 1961 in the 63rd minute, and that single goal was all that was necessary as neither team could manage any more scoring In the end, Rijeka 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.
Rijeka’s most prolific scorer has been Matija Frigan. He has netted three goals over the last 5 matches. Dario Marešić and Einar Galilea are the top scorers for Istra 1961 in the last five matches, but unfortunately they only have one goal.