Aussies Abroad: Karacic’s derby delight in Croatia

Fran Karacic’s dream week has continued with his Lokomotiva Zagreb winning the derby over Dinamo on Wednesday morning (AEDT).

Just days after earning selection in the Caltex Socceroos 32-man preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Karacic guided his side to a shock 3-1 win at the Stadion Kranjceviceva.

The victory was extra sweet for Lokomotiva as it denied Dinamo securing wrapping up the Croatian league title for at least another week.

Karacic started in defence for Lokomotiva, who set up the victory with two goals in the first 13 minutes from Dean Radonjic and Ivan Krstanovic.

Dinamo pulled one back from the penalty spot midway through the second half but Ivan Sunjic’s stoppage-time goal made the result safe and sent the home fans wild.

While Dinamo still holds a four point lead at the top with two games to play, Lokomotiva have jumped up to fifth spot on the ladder.

Karacic’s side is next in action on Sunday morning (AEST) against Inter Zapresic.

Bert van Marwijk will trim his squad to 26 or 27 next week, with Karacic hoping to be among those to be included for the pre-World Cup camp in Turkey.

Elsewhere, it was a disappointing night for Aussie midfielder Ryan Edwards in Scotland, with his Partick Thistle slumping to a defeat at home against Motherwell.

Needing a win to boost their chances of avoiding a relegation playoff, Thistle lost 1-0 thanks to Ryan Bowman’s goal on the hour mark.

Edwards, who played the full 90 minutes, was Thistle’s best on the night and went closest to scoring early on, getting his head on the end of a cross from the right only to be denied by keeper Trevor Carson.

Thistle is currently sitting second from bottom of the SPL, three points behind Hamilton Academical with one game to go this weekend against Dundee.

They not only need to win but also hope Hamilton lose against Motherwell, while also needing to make up a 13-goal deficit on goal difference to avoid a relegation playoff.