After the victory of his team over Proleter, the Manager of Vojvodina Nenad Lalatović stated that he is glad about the triumph and that he expects a real spectacle at Karađorđe in the next round against Red Star.
Vojvodina defeated Proleter tonight with a score of 0-1 (0-1), in the sixth round of the Super League of Serbia.
– Congratulations to both teams on the performance shown. A tough match was seen, with many tackling and some nice chances on both sides. Proleter had opportunities which did not use and could punish us, but we also had chances to score another goal. In the first half we used our first opportunity thanks to the individual quality of our player, led with 1-0 and after that the game was played so that neither team was lucky in front of the goal. Still, I think the city derby justified the expectations and that the audience enjoyed an open game – says Lalatović.
With this triumph, Vojvodina kept the first place at the table.
– I am glad that we won ahead of the derby against Red Star, although again I repeat that we do not aspire to become champions because we are not interested in that. It is our obligation to cheer the fans by taking Vojvodina to Europe after a few years, because Vojvodina as a club, these fans and this city absolutely deserve to have a representative in the qualifications for the Europa League – says Lalatović.
He once again praised Proleter for all that it has shown this season, despite the poor placement at the table.
– Congratulations to Proleter one more time. I spent two beautiful years there and it is a club that affirmed me. It is led by great people who are my big friends and I congratulate my colleague on how he leads the team and how his team plays. He absolutely needs support and a chance to continue working like this, because he has had a difficult schedule so far. I watched Proleter and I can say that no one outplayed it. When they lost, they lost by one goal difference, just like they did tonight, and in each match so far a penalty was called against them or one of their players got a red card. Proleter has shown that it has a good team and I wish them the best of luck, as well as to stay in the Super League, which I am sure will happen. As for Vojvodina is concerned, it deserves to be watched by its fans in the Europa League qualifications next season – says Lalatović.
At tonight’s match, Željko Filipović and Nemanja Vučić played for Vojvodina for the first time, instead of Marko Đurišić and Mladen Devetak.
– Due to the yellow card he got tonight, Matić will not be able to play against Red Star, and the same thing threatened Devetak. Matić got a yellow card for falling over a player who was positioned in front of him and it was absolutely not for yellow card, but I knew something like that could happen. I did not want to take any risk with Devetak so that we would not have the back line weakened in the next very important match, because I assumed that one of those players will get a yellow card tonight – Lalatović notes.
With excellent results this season, Vojvodina got used its fans to winning, so among them there is certainly hope that the triumph can be achieved in the next round against Red Star too.
– Wherever I was a coach, I had an approach that everything but winning is a failure, and I pass that onto my team. This is almost the same team that was eighth last season, and now it’s the first. It’s not my quality, it’s the quality of those players, but someone just needs to know how to wake them up and give them confidence. They have to win on every training, and especially at the game, and the audience recognizes and follows that. In the six games played so far, we have five wins and only one draw and that is what makes me very happy. I expect the spectacle next weekend when Red Star comes here, because these players deserved a full stadium. I am used to such pressure, and if they want to move forward and progress, players must get used to it too – said Lalatović, adding that the transfer window for Vojvodina is over.
In the next round, Vojvodina will play against Red Star at Karađorđe.