Pantic, Nikolic and Kljajic after Macva away

Heavy rain showers didn`t prevent Partizan from achieving another league win, this time away to Macva, and although home side took the first half lead Partizan scored three goals in the second half to win it 3-1.

We spoke after the game with two Partizan matchday scorers Pantic and Nikolic and keeper Kljajic.

– Tough game with lots of tackles. Macva played with no fear but we still dominated all the way through. Their penalty-kick goal and half-time score left the impression we were not good enough in the first half. It was hard to play there, Macva made a lots of fouls and stopped our plays in the early stage, said midfielder Danilo Pantic.

What did boss Mirkovic tell you at half-time?

– He pointed out at first half mistakes. We really played well after the break and believed we can win it.

You ran towards the dugout when you scored.

– This goal was for all of my teammates. I love to celebrate important goals with them as only we know how much each goal and win means to us. Goal I scored was very important to me, I really wanted to score from that free-kick.

Forward Nemanja Nikolic:

– As we prepared for this game, we knew this was going to be one of the toughest away encounters of the season. We were ready for a battle and didn`t expect much football beauty. Well, it`s clear from the number of cautions what kind of game it was. As for the goal I scored, nice build-up, beautiful cross from Ivanovic and something that pushed us forward to a win.

Partizan team showed more aggression in the second half.

– We deserved to win although we were not much of a threat in the first half although we had a great opportunity to equalize via Kosovic before the half-time whistle. But, this was one of the ways you can win a game. I`m glad we all showed character and won three very important points.

After coming back from injury, it was clear goal you scored meant a lot to you.

– Quite right. I`m s glad we scored three goals altogether and happy I scored after I missed ten or eleven games due to knee injury. Now I feel good and I think fans notice it. I hope I`ll keep scoring and perform well. Any goal scored is good for self-confidence.

Partizan is away to Besiktas on Thursday for a return leg of EL play-off stage.

– That`s gonna be tough too but we showed in Belgrade we can deal with big opponents. Therefore, we have a right to be optimistic ahead of Istanbul match.

Goalkeeper Filip Kljajic:

– We controlled most of the game but we had only one clear cut opportunity in the first half. I saved the penalty-kick but they scored on the rebound. Credits to thwe whole team on a character displayed as we managed to turn the proceedings over on an extremely hard pitch surface. We were better team all the way through and achieved convincing win at the end. I`d also like to thank our fans who came in great numbers to support us.