Everything was going the blues' way... Their main rival in the title race, Hajduk, played 2-2 away against Hrvatski dragovoljac on Saturday at – Maksimir Stadium. The Sisak team were, indeed, hosts on the Maksimir pitch where the very next day another league match was scheduled, this time between the then Croatia and Varteks.

Moreover, the "volunteers" led 2-0 against Hajduk, but the whites pulled one back in the 82nd minute and equalized in the final minute. This meant that the blues were at the top with three points more than the Split team and four points ahead of third-placed Varteks. And then – surprise. The Varaždin team celebrated 4-3 at Maksimir the following day and moved into second place, two points behind the blues. Three rounds remained until the end of the season...

There was a beautiful prelude to the match itself, as Marko Mlinarić recorded his "milestone" 600th appearance for the Maksimir club on that occasion. The tally, of course, includes all matches, both official and friendly. Commemorative gifts were presented to him by club president Martin Katičić and City Assembly representative Stjepan Brolich.

The popular Varaždin "tailors" completely "recut" all pre-match predictions. They had already rushed to a seemingly unreachable 3-0 lead in the first half.

First, the famous Maksimir defender and international Zvonimir Soldo broke through alone against goalkeeper Marjan Mrmić, also a member of the national team, who managed to stop his shot. A lightning counter-attack followed, which Andrija Balajić converted into a visitors' lead with a shot from 18 meters in the 18th minute.

The second goal came in the 32nd minute, Grgica Kovač delivered from a free kick, and Davor Vugrinec headed home to increase the lead. When Zoran Brlenić took advantage of a defensive error in the 41st minute, rounded goalkeeper Dražen Ladić and scored for 0-3, it seemed there was no way back for the blues. They managed to restore uncertainty, but not avoid defeat.

In the final seconds of the first half, Mark Viduka reduced the deficit with a header following Zoran Mamić's cross. It was Viduka who brought the blues back into the match from the penalty spot in the 59th minute. Previously, Mlinarić had sent the ball forward to Igor Cvitanović, who was tripped by Samir Toplak in the process.

Almost the same scene with the same actors followed in the 70th minute: Mlinarić played through Cvitanović who was brought down in the penalty area, and Viduka took the penalty. The difference is only that this time goalkeeper Mrmić committed the foul and that Viduka missed from the penalty spot. Mrmić corrected his mistake and deflected the ball into a corner while falling. In the next minute, he prevented a goal after Silvio Marić had a great chance.

It sparked again in the finale where we saw two more goals within one minute, in the 82nd and 83rd, one on each side. First Vugrinec outplayed the blues' defense, broke through alone against Ladić and scored the visitors' fourth goal, only for Cvitanović to immediately launch the ball spectacularly into the net from a free kick 22 meters out.