Title Favorites Zagreb NK stumble at the first hurdle

By: Ray Porter

Having regrouped and invested heavily in the summer, Zagreb NK, who finished third last season, are looking to grab the top spot in Season 3. A favourable draw would see them face newly promoted SC Hamburg at home. It would be the debut of Season 1 POTS Jethro Davidson, Season 1 Striker of the Season Henry Kamel and the extremely talented Lucca Rizzo in defence for Zagreb, while Akiyama Hernandez, the former Zagreb forward, would be debuting as SC Hamburg interim captain. This game would prove to Zagreb that Ray Hudson's proverb "possession without penetration is just masturbation" holds true to the modern game, as they failed to deliver on their gigantic expectations against their considerably weaker competitors. Speaking of cold showers: "Die Hansestädter" would strike early into the game as Dakota Scott converts a low driven shot into the bottom corner after a longer spell of possession. Preluding his goal, Akiyama Hernandez played a well-timed through ball while holding off a surprisingly bad Bebe Barry. If you expected the Croats to step up and try to salvage the situation, you must have missed their last league games. Instead, they fell into a catatonic state, leaving the game firmly in the hands of the visitors. Hamburg would capitalize from this, as Dohg Innim played a pass to Akiyama Hernandez, with his back to Zagreb's goal, the young striker turned around Lucca Rizzo, shot with his left foot and scored into the top left corner as Owen Majmunovic's dive was in vain. Their lead would remain stable until half-time with Zagreb having failed to get a single shot on target, meanwhile Hamburg scored both of their shots.
In the second half, more of the same followed as Hamburg used their possession effectively, even nearly bagging a third: A long pass from Piastri would see Jordan Brown in a 1 on 1 against Owen Majmunovic but (possibly illegally) pressured from behind he failed to beat the keeper. Thus, the game ended 2-0 for Hamburg, leaving Zagreb shell-shocked about how they failed to beat a significantly weaker side while the visitors celebrated their first ever top flight victory.