FM26 // FK Napredak
Balević Saves a Penalty
Matchdays 4–6
Spartak — Take the Medicine
Rotated Jovanović. Bubanj started up front. Route One with nobody to aim at in the air, 0% crossing completion at half time, and a Spartak side sitting 4th in the table who had waited all week for exactly this kind of opportunity. They took it. Four one. Spartak’s substitute Sekulić came off the bench and ran the second half.
The lesson from Spartak: the system requires Jovanović. Route One without a target forward is just aimless long balls into space. Filed. Not repeated.
B. Sekulić — off bench, ran riot
Mladost — The Balević Game
Laban out with a sprained ankle ligament — five to six weeks minimum. Mladost dominated possession at 67% and were the better side for 90 minutes. Then they won a penalty.
Lazar Balević. Seventeen years old. Started in goal because Savić’s determination 4 and stamina 6 had already cost minutes during the season. Balević stood up and saved it. Clean. No drama. Then Lutovac scored at 64 minutes from a Badji assist and the ground held its breath for the final 26 minutes.
Three points from a game that Mladost deserved to win. The goalkeeper earned every one of them. *Their raw xG of 1.74 includes the penalty — approximately 0.76 xG removed for open play comparison.
17 years old. £100 per week. Saved the penalty. Kept the clean sheet. Rated 8.9. The accidental hero of the season.
Lazar Balević — Matchday 5
L. Balević — penalty save + clean sheet
Radnik Surdulica — Nicked It
Radnik Surdulica were sitting 4th in the table — a promoted side riding their new-season momentum harder than anyone. Skrobonja carrying a niggle. Away from home against a side outperforming their prediction significantly. Held them to 0-0 with a backs-to-the-wall defensive display.
Their goal was chalked off for offside at the 88th minute. Every team needs that kind of luck across a long season. Sixteen fouls and four yellow cards — Vulić, Lutovac, Krstić and Čubra all booked — the worst disciplinary performance of the season. The point was earned regardless.
A point away at a promoted side sitting 4th. After the Spartak defeat. With Laban and Skrobonja both unavailable. The squad is deeper than it looks.
V. Jovanović (sub) — 8.3
Six games in. W3 D1 L2. Ten points. The injury to Laban exposed how thin the midfield cover is. The disciplinary record — 4 yellow cards in one game — still needs addressing. But the table shows 5th place and the system is grinding results without its best player.