Friday August 15th 2025
Hibs vs FK Partizan at Easter Road
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Hibs welcomed the Serbian side, FK Partizan, to Easter Road in the 2nd leg of the UEFA Conference League 3rd qualifying round after Hibs took the win in the first leg 2-0.
With Jamie McGrath out injured and David Gray announcing that he will be a miss, Hibs faced a challenege defending their away from home victory. FK Partizan lined up with a very young starting 11 with only three players over the age of 22.
Right from the off, playing at a packed Easter Road, Hibs went straight into the attack. Within the first five minutes, Hibs forced FK Partizan’s goalkeeper, Marko Milosevic, to make a crucial save, with the home side esserting dominance in the early minutes.
The Serbian side began to settle and threaten, breaking through Hibs defence with a through ball to Nemanja Trifunovic which, after a scrumage in the box, led to a foul awarded to Hibs.
This was followed by a lackluster freekick attempt from Hibs, sending the ball over the net. Following this missed opportunity a pass from Warren O’Hora to Jordan Obita saw an optimistic breakthrough, offering a great oppurtunity that was squashed by FK Partizan’s strong defence.
The visiting team held strong possession in the first quarter of the game despite being unable to create any goal scoring opportunities. Hibs combatted this strong possession with great attacking opportunities, pressuring FK Partizan.
Seventeen minutes into the game, FK Partizan opened the scoring with Nikola Simic winning the ball from Hibs, passing through to Milan Vukotic who scored a screamer from outside the box. With Hibs keeper, Jordan Smith, getting his finger tips on the ball he was unable to stop Vukotic’s powerful strike, letting a savable shot into the net making it 2-1 to Hibs on aggregate.
Following the opening goal, FK Partizan began to find their feet, attempting another strike from outside the box minutes after their goal.
A break in the Serbians defence offered Marin Boyle to cross the ball into the box, received by a diving header that narrowly missed the post. Right after this, another great heading opportunity by Rocky Bushiri again narrowly missed the post.
The game’s intensity began to build up, becoming more fast paced with FK Partizan threatening to score.
Minutes before the break, Mario Jurcevic’s pass through to Jovan Milosevic doubled the visitors lead, scoring a soft goal that slipped under Jordan Smith.
Jordan Smith will be very disappointed as this was entitaly savable. His first half performance wasn’t up to scratch.
There was a VAR delay as they checked the second goal which was eventually allowed. This was followed by another VAR check of a potential hand ball from Hibs, not being given, creating slow and uneventful last minutes of the first half.
With the score at half time being 2-0 to the visitors, and 2 all in aggregate, Hibs were needing to make crucial changes to secure their spot in the next qualifying round.
The first half performance saw Hibs very passive in defence, missing crucial tackles and failing to pressure the Serbian side. FK Partizan will be dilated with their first half performance.
The visitors kicked off the second half as they ended the first, pressuring Hibs from the get go.
Mid second half Hibs began to take more control of the game, leading to an attack in the 64th minute with a header from Hibs defender, Jack Iredale, to Kieron Bowie’s feet. The striker sent a looping shot towards FK Partizan’s net, scoring an absolute screamer from outside the box.
Following Hibs’ wonder goal, FK Partizan’s Nikola Simic received his 2nd yellow card following the initial card in the first half, allowing the home side to take advantage of the extra man.
Taking this advantage, Martin Boyle slid the ball through to Nicolas Cadden, who had replaced Josh Campbell at the beggining of the half, slipping the ball past FK Partizan’s goal keeper.
With the officials taking the goal to VAR, Martin Boyle was called offiside prior to the assist through on goal.
FK Partizan made two crucial midfield substitutions near the end of the match, they attempted to push for an extra goal that would take the game inot extra time.
Hibs taking advantage of the extra player, they forced many good attacking oppurtunities, making for nail biting final minutes.
This pressure from Hibs was combatted by great possession from the Serbians, leading to a crucial goal in the 95th minute by substitute Andrej Ksotic.
With the game now sitting at 3:3 over both legs, we now went into 30 minutes extra time.
The beginning of extra time was slow with both teams playing it safe. This led to Hibs opener with a shot from Chris Cadden deflecting off FK Partizan’s goal keeper and into the net. Making the game 3:2 on the night and 4:3 to Hibs on aggregate. The home side’s substitutes allowed them to push forward, showing strong attack with the extra man.
Hibs kicking off the second half of extra time leads striaght to an opportunity on goal with Nicolas Cadden taking a strike that narrowly misses.
Adding to the intense tension, a goal by the visitors was called offside, leaving the Serbian side still pushing to take the game to penalties.
FK Partizan had an icredible opportunity in the 116th minute, with Demba Seck strike leading to Jordan Smith defeflecting it back into play, followed by another strike into the side of the net, missing a crucial equailizing opportunity.
Coming to the end of extra time Hibs played the ball well in the midfield, taking it slow and playing defensive. Again, taking advantage of FK Partizans sending off, they were able to hold the ball until the final minutes of the game.
The Hibernian side won the final fight, finishing the game with a win and a spot in the next Conference League qualifying round. The home side played well, coming into their own in the second half following a poor performance from their goal keeper. FK Partizan put up a strong fight but due to losing a player, they were unable to successfully defend Hibs relentless pressure.
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