Croatia maintained their flawless World Cup qualifying run with a comfortable 4-0 win over Montenegro in Zagreb, reaching the halfway point with a maximum return and extending an unbeaten home run in World Cup qualifiers that stretches back to September 2016. The result makes it 11 wins and three draws in that sequence and keeps Zlatko Dalic’s side firmly on course for the finals.
Montenegro arrived on a poor away sequence in this competition and were reduced to ten men before the interval, yet they frustrated Croatia early on. Danijel Petkovic denied Franjo Ivanovic with a superb save from a close-range header, and Igor Vujacic’s early injury forced a defensive reshuffle that initially held. The breakthrough came in 35 minutes, and it was worth the wait. Luka Modric switched play with a measured aerial ball to the right, Kristijan Jakic danced past two defenders and curled a fine finish into the far corner for his first international goal.
Montenegro’s evening worsened soon after when Andrija Bulatovic collected a second yellow card for a foul on Modric, leaving the visitors to chase the match with a man fewer. Six minutes into the second half Croatia doubled their lead with a move of Bundesliga precision. Josip Stanisic surged down the right and squared for Andrej Kramaric to tap in, maintaining a perfect return in this qualifying cycle with six goals in four matches.
Croatia kept pressing. Modric went close from the edge of the area, Petkovic smothered an Ante Budimir rebound at close range, and the pressure finally told again when Lovro Majer’s effort was turned into his own net by Edvin Kuc for 3-0. The gloss arrived in the added time. Majer threaded a clever pass into Ivan Perisic, who finished first time into the bottom right corner to complete a dominant display.
With a game in hand on second-placed Czech Republic, Group L’s new leaders look set to confirm qualification sooner rather than later, which would mark a seventh World Cup in eight attempts as an independent nation. Montenegro, now six points adrift of the Czechs, face an uphill task to revive their challenge after another chastening away night.
