Arsimi earned three new points with a hard-fought 1:0 victory and in a way secured their survival in the top flight, while Pelister, despite their territorial dominance, once again confirmed their problems with finishing.
Both teams were very cautious, with a clear intention to stop their opponents’ attacks before they even reached their own penalty area. The game mostly consisted of interceptions and preventing advances, so the two long-range shots were almost the only moments of excitement in the first 40 minutes.
Stefan Spirovski tried a long-range shot that went over the crossbar, while the home side, through Bajo, sent a harmless effort towards Jovcevski’s goal.
However, the course of events changed in the 43rd minute. After a flowing move, the Arsimi players managed to shift the focus of the attack from the right to the left side. They also had a dose of luck, as the ball went past several Pelister players, from Sikiri to Dardishta, with one Bitola defender getting a touch to it, but not enough to clear the danger. Dardishta took advantage and scored to give Arsimi the lead.
In the very next attack, Pelister had an excellent chance to equalise. After a quick advance down the left, the ball was switched to the opposite side, where Spirovski shot first time, but the crossbar came to Siljanovski’s rescue.
The second half began with an initiative from the visitors from Bitola. Coach Sekulovski made a double substitution to freshen things up, after which several corners and free kicks followed. Luka Bulatovic tried from set pieces on two occasions but was inaccurate, while Petrovic failed to take advantage of the next half-chance.
The most attractive moment of the second half came in the 67th minute, when, following a cross from the right, Spirovski headed the ball down to Bulatovic, but his volley was once again off target.
Coach Redzep Gajur opted for a more defensive setup, but Arsimi had their own chances on the counterattack. Huric, after a precise pass, produced a weak shot from the edge of the penalty area, while Bajo fired over the goal from around 18 metres in the 71st minute. Abduli attempted something spectacular in the 85th minute, but without posing a genuine threat to Jovcevski’s goal.
Pelister’s final attempts came from substitutes Zdravevski and Mrmachevski. In the first instance, they won a corner, while in the second, Siljanovski intervened in time and neutralised the danger.
With this victory, Arsimi reached 35 points and climbed to seventh place, overtaking Brera. However, the Strumica side have a game in hand and could draw level with the Gostivar side on points with a potential victory. Pelister remain on 26 points, one more than Rabotnicki and three more than Macedonia Gjorche Petrov.
