Rijeka had the ball, but Varazdin finished with ten men

HNK Rijeka had most of the ball and drew 1-1 with NK Varazdin, who ended the match a man short after a late red card.

Novak Tepsic was sent off for NK Varazdin in the ninetieth minute, so the visitors finished the game with ten men. Earlier, Luka Mamić had missed a penalty for them in the thirty-seventh minute and then scored in the fiftieth, which means the afternoon had already been a ragged one before the dismissal. HNK Rijeka had far more of the ball than usual, but the match was not as one-sided as that suggests.

Rijeka held 69% of the ball, well above the 59% they usually keep at home this season. They completed 559 of their 644 passes, a sign of patient possession, but the chances did not grow with it. Their expected goals figure, a rough measure of how promising the shots were based on where they were taken, came to 0.93, below the 1.29 they average at home. They took fifteen shots, close to their usual 14.7, so the volume was normal even if the quality was not. Toni Fruk gave them the lead in the seventeenth minute, set up by Ante Orec.

Varazdin had 31% of the ball, against the 47% they average on the road. They managed three shots all match, where they usually take 12.5 away, and two of those were on target. Their expected goals of 0.89 came in below the 1.26 they usually produce as the away side. Goalkeeper Silić made three saves, and the visitors' goal came through Mamić after his earlier penalty miss.

Rijeka forced eleven corners, which means the ball was often driven behind the visitors' defence and out for a set piece. Varazdin had none. Five of Rijeka's efforts were blocked before they reached the goal, so a fair number of their attempts were stopped by defenders rather than by Silić. The numbers show a side that kept pressing but struggled to turn that pressure into clear, close-range shooting.

Tepsic's dismissal came in the same minute as his second yellow card, which left Varazdin a man short at the death. Barać was also booked in that minute, though he stayed on. For Rijeka, the outcome was a point they had worked hard for rather than a win that the ball count alone might have predicted. The only other card that mattered came earlier, when Anel Husic was booked in the thirty-fifth minute.

Two goals is below the 3.1 that the league averages per match, so this was a quieter game than most in the division. Rijeka scored one, against the 1.7 they usually manage at home, and conceded one, against the 1.4 they usually give up. Varazdin also scored one, against their away average of 1.4, and conceded one, compared with the 0.9 they usually concede on the road. Rijeka sit fifth on 17 points from 10 matches, while Varazdin are third on 18 points from 11.

Varazdin's recent away matches include three draws, and the most recent home form for Rijeka features a 4-1 win and a 3-0 win. Both sides leave this match with a point, but only Varazdin leave it with the memory of having lost a player at the very end.

Player of the matchT. Fruk1 goal8.2

L. Mamić1 goal7.3

J. Silić3 saves7.0

M. Vuk6 duels won6.9