GNK Dinamo Zagreb secured a key victory in the title race, defeating Hajduk 2-1 in the fifth round of the 1946 championship. The result gave the Blues a leading nine points on the table and laid a solid foundation for their eventual league triumph that season.
The match at the Koturaška stadium was played in front of 18,000 spectators and was intensely physical. The officials recorded a total of 68 fouls, with 42 committed by the Split side. Dinamo took the lead in the 25th minute following good work from Ratko Kacian and Franjo Mara Wölfl, finished by Zvonko Strnad. Hajduk equalised just eight minutes later, in the 33rd minute, with a strike from 18 metres by Branko Viđak, who also hit the post later in the game.
In the 40th minute, Hajduk player Slavko Luštica was injured, and with substitutions not yet permitted at the time, his team was forced to play with ten men. Dinamo finally decided the contest in the 63rd minute when Franjo Mara Wölfl headed home. Seven minutes from time, in the 83rd minute, Hajduk's Vojko Andrijašević was sent off for a rough challenge on Ivica Braca Reiss. Reporters later wrote that "some visiting players at times in the second half broke the rules of what was permissible and thus gave the impression that they were struggling to cope with defeat."
This win gave Dinamo nine points after five rounds, with Red Star Belgrade second on eight and Lokomotiva third on seven. Dinamo had recorded three wins and a draw in the first four rounds and went on to crown the season with the championship trophy.
After six games the team sits fourth with 13 points, and their next opponent is NK Lokomotiva Zagreb. Their last meeting in May ended goalless. The match against Lokomotiva will be played at home on September 20.
Background and full detail: Dinamo Zagreb
