KARLOVAC, Croatia (Interstat) — Rijeka defeated Karlovac 4-1 on Tuesday in a Croatian football match, using a first-half hat trick from Daniel Adu Adjei and a late goal from Mohammad Mohebi to pull away at Karlovac’s home ground. Rijeka, the visiting side, scored four goals total and Karlovac scored one. Adu Adjei scored in the 14th, 23rd and 41st minutes, giving Rijeka a three-goal lead by halftime. Karlovac answered through Luka Kapulica in the 76th minute, but Mohebi restored Rijeka’s three-goal cushion in the 85th. Rijeka is now 1 win and 0 losses in the competition and 2 wins and 2 losses across all competitions. Karlovac is 0 wins and 1 loss in the competition and 4 wins, 4 losses and 2 draws overall.

Adu Adjei was Rijeka’s top star and the central figure in the match. He opened the scoring in the 14th minute, added his second in the 23rd and completed his hat trick in the 41st. His statline was 83 minutes, three goals and a yellow card. He played 83 minutes before being substituted in the 83rd minute, shortly after receiving a yellow card in the 80th. Adu Adjei had recent appearances of 27 minutes at NK Rudes and 80 minutes at Slaven Belupo. His three-goal burst gave Rijeka control of the match and forced Karlovac to chase the game from early in the first half. The decisive stretch came before halftime, when Rijeka turned a close match into a three-goal lead.

Kapulica scored Karlovac’s only goal in the 76th minute and was on the field for the full match. His statline was 90 minutes and one goal. Paracki G. received a yellow card for Karlovac in the 81st minute, one minute after Adu Adjei was booked for Rijeka. Mohebi, who played 24 minutes, scored Rijeka’s fourth goal in the 85th minute. His statline was 24 minutes and one goal. The goal ended Karlovac’s brief hope of a comeback after Kapulica’s finish had cut the deficit to two goals. Karlovac could not produce another answer in the closing minutes.

Karlovac made two changes at halftime, bringing on Scira D. and Raguz P. Rijeka made three substitutions in the 66th minute, using Lasickas J., Fruk T. and Dantas T. Karlovac later brought on Zaverukha I. and Stipic M. in the 78th minute. Rijeka removed Adu Adjei in the 83rd minute. Karlovac brought on Ropar D. in the 86th minute, and Rijeka brought on Pavic B. in the 87th minute. Rijeka made five substitutions in total, and Karlovac also made five. The changes came as Karlovac tried to reduce the deficit and Rijeka managed the final stages.

Rijeka entered the match after a 2-1 win at NK Rudes, a 4-1 loss at Slaven Belupo and a 1-0 home loss to Union Berlin. Karlovac entered after a 1-0 win at NK Dinamo Zagreb II, a 3-2 home win over Bijelo Brdo, a 1-1 draw at Segesta, a 1-0 home loss to Dubrava, a 1-0 loss at Zdralovi, a 3-1 home win over Hrvace, a 2-2 draw at Dugopolje, a 2-1 home win over Opatija and a 3-0 loss at Sesvete. Karlovac’s upcoming schedule includes Orijent at home, a trip to Cibalia, a home match against Vukovar 1991 and a trip to Zmijavci, followed by matches against Kustosija, Luka Ploce, Sesvete, Opatija, Dugopolje and Hrvace. The result gave Rijeka its first competition win of the season.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Karlovac 1, Rijeka 1. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Rijeka with a 92.7 percent probability to win. Rijeka had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -2. The total score of 5 went under the over/under line of 3.5.