ZAGREB (Interstat) — Marko Novak Stanko scored for Dubrava and the home side twice answered Sesvete’s second-half push as Dubrava and Sesvete played to a 2-2 draw on Friday in a Croatian second-tier match. The teams remained level after a closing stretch that produced three goals in 12 minutes and a fourth in the 82nd. Novak Stanko played all 90 minutes and scored Dubrava’s opener. Ilan Pejic scored for Sesvete during a 44-minute appearance, and Vito Jakovljevic scored during a one-minute appearance. The result left both clubs still searching for their first competition win of the season.

Novak Stanko put Dubrava ahead in the 48th minute, finishing the opening goal after a scoreless first half. Sesvete responded with two goals in seven minutes. Vito Jakovljevic equalized in the 71st minute, and Ilan Pejic gave Sesvete a 2-1 lead in the 78th minute. Dubrava then equalized in the 82nd minute, producing the final margin. The sequence turned a tight, card-heavy contest into a late back-and-forth finish, with Sesvete briefly positioned for a road win before Dubrava found its response. The equalizer came four minutes after Pejic had put the visitors in front and capped a match that had been short on clear chances before the second-half burst. Jakovljevic’s goal came during his only minute of the match, while Pejic struck during a 44-minute shift. Novak Stanko’s opener arrived three minutes after the restart.

No goals were scored before halftime, but the match was already physical. Sesvete’s Kostelac was booked in the 24th minute and Agic followed in the 28th. Olaleke received a yellow card in the 47th minute, and Ruskovacki was booked in the 57th. Dubrava’s bookings included Fintic in the 55th minute and Vrdoljak in the 64th. In all, the match produced 11 yellow cards, six for Sesvete and five for Dubrava, including second-half cards in the 84th and 90th minute plus one for Sesvete and cards in the 52nd, 58th and 83rd minutes for Dubrava. Sesvete made the match’s listed substitutions, with Barnabas in the 16th minute and Brajkovic and Kostelac in the 46th. Kostelac, booked in the 24th, was substituted at the interval. The early change did not alter the first-half pattern, and the game remained scoreless at the break. The substitution log listed only Sesvete changes. The bookings came in a match that had little room for fluent play, with fouls breaking up possession on both sides.

The draw moved Sesvete’s competition record to 0 wins, 2 losses and 3 draws. Dubrava’s competition record is now 0 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw. Across all competitions, Sesvete stands at 3 wins, 6 losses and 3 draws, while Dubrava is 2 wins, 7 losses and 3 draws. Sesvete had entered the match after a scoreless draw with Hrvace and a road loss at Opatija. Dubrava came in after a home loss to Kustosija and a road loss at Vukovar 1991. Both sides remained without a competition win after the result, and the shared points did little to separate two teams that have found victories hard to come by this season. Across all competitions, the two clubs have combined for five wins this season. The shared points left both sides still chasing a first competition victory.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Dubrava 1, Sesvete 1. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Sesvete with a 51.7 percent probability to win. Sesvete had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -0.5. The total score of 4 went under the over/under line of 2.5. The projection had called for a lower-scoring contest than the four-goal match ultimately produced.