Red Star - Partizan 2-0

Pjanovic (left) celebrates scoring a goal with Lalatovic

Belgrade, March 7 (agencies) - Red Star Belgrade beat their arch-rivals Partizan 2-0 in the Yugoslav first league match. Scorers for Red Star were Mihajlo Pjanovic (10) and Nenad Lalatovic (72).

The original match was abandoned last October beacause of fans riot.

The victory moved Red Star a step closer to retaining their league title. They are now four points clear of Partizan at the top of the table, with local rivals Obilic lying third a further six points adrift.

Partizan made a bright start and should have scored in the opening minutes. But Red Star's keeper Aleksandar Kocic parried a scorching shot from Vladimir Ivic and tipped Andrija Delibasic's subsequent header over the bar.

Boskovic (right, Red Star) challenges Saveljic and Cirkovic (both from Partizan)

The hosts took the lead against the run of play in the 10th minute, when Mihajlo Pjanovic pounced on a bad defensive blunder by Aleksandar Stanojevic and lobbed the advancing keeper.

Partizan piled on the pressure looking for an equaliser but Kocic was in superb form to deny Ivic and Delibasic on a couple of occasions.

The visitors kept pushing forward after the interval, but to no great effect, and Nenad Lalatovic sealed the game in the 72nd minute when he blasted home from close range after Partizan's defence failed to clear a corner.

Pjanovic (left, Red Star) fights for the ball with Stanojevic

Red Star's coach Slavoljub Muslin said after the match he was happier with the outcome than his team's performance. "We won, although this was one of our worst performances of the season. We were edgy, but good teams win even when they don't play well. The title race is still far from over," he said.

Captain Goran Bunjevcevic said: "We now have a clear lead over our bitter rivals after defeating them in a head-to-head clash. The championship is in our hands and we must be the favourites to win it."