It was football with "open doors". A total of seven goals in the derby between Dinamo and Partizan, and just three weeks earlier on that same pitch at Maksimir there were nine goals in the match between the Blues and Vojvodina. The results from that summer of 1956 were fascinating - unpredictable matches, goal bonanzas and narrow victories... Dinamo, for instance, defeated Vojvodina from Novi Sad 5-4 in the 2nd round, and now, in this 6th round encounter, overcame Partizan in a derby thriller 4-3.

Aleksandar Benko found the net as early as the 10th minute, and it took an equal interval, another 10 minutes, for the equaliser to arrive. The scorer was Stjepan Bobek. Towards the end of the first half, in the 39th minute, Željko Matuš put Dinamo back in front.

Few could have anticipated the drama that would unfold in the second half: four more goals and a huge missed opportunity for the visitors in the dying moments as they hunted for an equaliser. Moreover, this quartet of goals came within a span of less than 15 minutes, from the 71st to the 84th minute.

First, Antun Herceg broke through the defence to equalise, though the media highlighted that there was a question of offside. Regardless, just two minutes later Partizan turned the match around and took the lead. Miloš Milutinović played the ball to Branko Zebec who fired it into the goal from about ten metres out.

However, another Dinamo comeback followed. Again, just two minutes passed before the next goal. Benko crossed from the wing, and Matuš, running at full speed in front of the goalkeeper, fired the ball into the net. Six minutes before the end, Luka Lipošinović beat his marker, raced towards goal, and set up Vladimir Lacković who scored the winner with a spectacular strike.

Just three minutes later, Partizan came close to another equaliser. Milutinović found himself alone on the left side at the edge of the penalty area, goalkeeper Branko Kralj came out to meet him, but the Partizan striker managed to round him. All he had to do was push the ball into the net, but he attempted a feint and ended up missing the target completely. The media wrote that in the end "both the ball and Milutinović ended up wide of the goal."