Two seriously injured Dinamo players following rough challenges from opponents, protests from the club's management, and an extremely charged atmosphere in the stands marked the Split derby between Hajduk and Dinamo. The Blues were at that time entering a "photo finish" with Red Star Belgrade in the race for the championship title, and on that path they stumbled precisely against the whites in Split. Hajduk won 3-2, which meant that second-placed Dinamo, three rounds before the end, had a one-point deficit behind Red Star Belgrade.

A single point would have been enough for the Blues to claim first place. Dinamo won all their remaining three matches, but the same was achieved by the Belgrade side who ultimately crowned themselves champions. Dinamo's general secretary Otto Hofmann issued an official statement after the match expressing dissatisfaction with the reception in Split, stating: "The match was played under impossible circumstances, several of our players were seriously injured by deliberate fouls, including Jerković and Matuš. During the match, our players were hindered by the tense atmosphere and stones thrown from the stands onto the pitch."

Individuals later threw stones at the bus carrying Dinamo players, while Hajduk's management confiscated film from Zagreb photojournalists and destroyed their photographic material. The match had a sequel in which officials of the Split club accused their player, popular international Ante Žanetić, of insufficient effort. Shortly after, he was physically attacked multiple times in the city... This was the spark that later provoked Žanetić's escape - first he emigrated to Belgium, then to Australia, which was perceived as a major scandal at the time.

Home defender Stipe Ilić, after less than 10 minutes, disabled Dinamo's most dangerous striker Dražan Jerković with a rough challenge - a kick to the shin - and he was carried off the field on a stretcher. He was replaced by the then junior Ivica Cvitković.

In the second half, Pavle Garov "cut down" Željko Matuš with similar brutality, who also had to leave the pitch. According to the rules of the time, there was no right to further player substitutions, so Dinamo played the last half hour with ten men. Nevertheless, the Blues took the lead through Luka Lipošinović with a volley in the 12th minute, and Zlatko Papec equalized in the 31st following an assist from Garov. Two minutes later, Lipošinović hit the crossbar. The Blues soon took the lead again when Nedeljko Dugandžija received the ball after a pass from Vladimir Čonč, broke clear in front of goalkeeper Ante Vulić and found the net. Towards the end of the first half, Garov equalized with a shot from 20 meters under the crossbar. Papec scored for 3-2 in the 50th minute, capitalizing on a pass from Zvonko Bega.