Cagey start from both sides compared to the early goals of the first leg. Good atmosphere though... and just as I type this it's a goal for Slavia. Ngadeu puts it away on the corner and the Eden is going nuts.
Slavia looking fairly confident going forward after the goal, still a lot of time, but Sevilla looking much more frantic than they did in Spain only managing a couple of low shots from outside the box. I'd say this feels more 50-50 compared to my pre-match thoughts (Sevilla need 2 goals as it stands)
Sevilla equalized on a penalty before half. It was a penalty that is not always called as there was no scoring opportunity, but there was contact so still correct It also never would have happened if Kudela kept his head up instead of ducking the ball. HT 1-1... so basically back where we started with 45 minutes to go, Slavia have the away goal advantage, but aren't in the clear yet. Sevilla don't look as dangerous at all as they did in Spain though, so still thinking about 50-50
Wow... about 10 seconds into the 2nd half Sevilla takes down Boril in the box on a long ball for no reason, and Soucek converts the penalty. 2-1 Slavia On replay, Boril went down quite easy, still Sevilla defender (actually it was Navas) should know better in that situation
And it's 2-2, a fantastic volley from distance by Munir. It's quite literally back to 0-0 with just over 30 minutes to go. Admittedly, while social media is going nuts about this match neither team really seams like they deserve 2 goals having watched.It's a fairly tame match, but what chances there have been were well taken
Last 15 and match is opening up as neither side wants extra time. Sevilla are the better team and a goal for them is more or less a sure win at this point, but for whatever reason they look more timid last few minutes. I'd think coming from behind twice they'd be flying.
Kolar just saved Slavia's hopes, he's actually been quite good this tie. 5 minutes to go and this feels like it can go either way. A lot of weak fouls being called, and Slavia just had a breakaway killed by one
180 minutes wasn't enough. Going into extra time Soucek just can't get enough on it to beat Vaclik on a corner early in extra time Sevilla make no mistake on their first chance of extra time, Slavia have 20 minutes to force penalties... and they just scored, Van Buren from a tight angle.
No matter what happens in the next 15 minutes, Slavia has increased our league's perception a lot in this tie. I had thought that away goals stop counting in ET, but it seems they do so Slavia need one more. Vaclik, just denied Soucek again. Soucek also just got booked for a dive that I thought might be a penalty. Definitely looks like a penalty, but no VAR
SLAVIA!!!!! last minute of extratime 4-3, Eden sounds like they just won the cup! Best match of the whole tournament, and a huge win for Slavia into the quarterfinals. Slavia will play one of: Arsenal, Chelsea, Napoli, Valencia, Frankfurt, Benfica or Villareal
While Benfica or Frankfurt would have been better from a standpoint of advancement, the Slavia team got their wish with an English opponent (although Arsenal was preferred due to Cech). It also creates a chance to decide if Alex Kral or David Luiz looks more like Sideshow Bob.
Plzen are continuing to collapse since their big win against Slavia in February having lost on the road to Teplice this weekend. Slavia took care of business with no Sevilla victory hangover, so they are now 9 pts clear with just a few matches remaining in the season's first phase. Sparta kept their streak going with a late comeback against Olomouc (who have also been improved since the winter break), although they did so with the benefit of 2 penalties in 5 minutes which regardless of veracity will provoke all non-Sparta fans to scream favoritism. In 2. Liga, Brno blew a 2-0 halftime lead against league leading C. Budejovice , the guys from Zbrojovokast (a Zbrojovka Brno podcast) summed it up accurately. This is why Dynamo will play first league football next season and we won't— Zbrojovkast (@zbrojovkast) March 17, 2019
I'll give a rare (possibly first ever) update/accolade to a Czech women's team as the Slavia Zeny are in the Women's Champions League Quarterfinals for the 2nd year in a row. Where as last year they sort of backed in via a weak draw and were promptly beaten 6-1 by their first real competition. This year they beat a tough team in the R16 and are level 1-1 after the first leg against heavily favored Bayern Munich, thanks to this goal (of the season) by a very promising young player named Katerina Svitkova: 1108449949098885120 is not a valid tweet id
Some upsets this week Karvina 2 : 0 Ostrava - Ostrava over performed their ability in autumn, although I think they are on a good trajectory they still have missing pieces to really complete Mlada Boleslav 2 - 1 Sparta - Sparta's first loss this spring and Dockal is still out injured. Ml Boleslav are a solid team and the result was well earned. Slavia 1 - 1 Liberec - Slavia's finishing problems from the Europa League group stages made an appearance as this match was not as even as the scoreline. Plzen 3 - 2 Bohemians - Plzen jumped out to a quick league and looked to be cruising to an easy victory, but Bohemians came out the better team after halftime. Jablonec 3 - 0 Pribram - Decisive win by good team vs bad Teplice 2 - 0 Slovacko - mid-table > relegation candidate Zlin 0 - 2 Olomouc - these teams seem like they've switched form between the two sides of the winter break. Opava 2 - 0 Dukla - Opava look increasingly safe, Dukla look increasingly doomed The 1. Liga has just 4 rounds remaining until the break out into post groups, and its still clear that Slavia will go in ahead.
2. Liga in contrast still has 10 rounds remaining and for the most part its still a wide-open contest, but it does look like Ceske Budejovice at 7 points clear of 2nd place are starting to pull away in the race for the automatic promotion. The main chase if for the playoff promotion spots, Where you have 6 teams in the 32-40 pts range chasing. Brno is currently 5th, and has been playing much better since the break, but still a lot of work to do. On the opposite end, Viktoria Zizkov are struggling and their existence as a professional club may be in danger..
Prostějov have been horrible in the 2nd division for much of the season, and I think they had lost 12 in a row or something like that. However, they actually beat Znojmo 5-1 today to climb out of the relegation zone.
The 2nd division has some crazy results this year, Varnsdorf are averaging less than a goal per game and in 4th place. CB and now Jihlava too look to be heading for top 2 finishes, the 3rd spot is still wide open. In the top flight most matches are tomorrow, but Slavia basically got 90 minutes of target practice playing against Dukla to prepare for Chelsea. They won 1-5.
Updated results for the weekend with Sparta - Zlin still to play in a battle of teams in very different form. Liberec 0 - 0 Jablonec : the "match of the week" turned out very anticlimactic. Jablonec barring a complete collapse will be in the top 6 group, but Liberec are part of the group chasing the top 6. Ostrava 3 - 1 Teplice : Banik seem to be getting back into form as they also advanced in the cup convincingly this week. They are also very close to guaranteeing a top 6 finish. Olomouc 3 - 2 Karvina : Sigma Olomouc are the story of the spring season even if Sparta's turnaround got more attention. They've gone from being just above the relegation zone to now being 1 point off 6th place with 3 weeks to go. Slovacko 0 - 1 Plzen: I don't know what to say about Viktoria, they are in 2nd place and had a fairly successful Champions League run. Still this is not the same team that dominated the decade domestically, they have set a record for 1-0 victories which while better than 0-0 is a far cry from the free scoring teams of years past. Bohemians 0 - 0 Ml Boleslav: Bohemians are struggling although are safe from automatic relegation, and Ml Boleslav are clinging to 6th place (Zlin could pass them with an unexpected result against Sparta). Pribram 3 - 1 Opava : let down for Opava, although they are still in a safe position and don't have the quality to challenge for higher. Pribram continue to be, if nothing else, the most entertaining bad team in the league, their defense is atrocious but they have some good attacking players that create very high scoring matches. While I like the breakout structure of the league in general, I do think that for all the teams chasing the 6th place position that being in 7th actually gives an easier route to Europe through the playoff. Only the top 4 in the 6 group get a European spot, and Slavia, Plzen, and Sparta will have big advantages for 3 of those spots.
Sparta 2 - 0 Zlin : About the expected result, it took Sparta awhile to breakthrough but it was very one-sided throughout. Hlozek scored another goal, and he does look like quite a prospect for a 16-year-old.
Slavia take on Chelsea in Prague later today, they will be without Soucek due to yellow card suspension. Both teams have big matches ahead this weekend (Chelsea has Liverpool, and Sunday is the Prague S derby); I suspect Slavia will feel clear enough on the domestic table to play best lineup (minus Soucek) while Chelsea may rest a few players. Unless Slavia can manage a multi-goal victory in Prague, Chelsea will feel confident they can take the fixture back in London... Then again I thought this about their matchup with Sevilla when they came back from behind 3 times and won in stoppage time.
Hard to question Trpišovský when he has picked lineups right so far, but a shocker that Sevcik is starting as a replacement for the Soucek role. He's looked completely out of his depth in limited minutes at Slavia so far.
20 minutes in, still 0-0. Slavia aren't playing great, but they are playing better than Chelsea. Actually Slavia livening up a bit as Sevcik gets a decent strike though straight at the keeper.
Slavia have good energy but not much in terms of ideas. Masopust and Stoch are getting some space on the wings, but there is very little getting into dangerous positions. Chelsea by contrast look very slow, but there one attempt was much more dangerous and went off the post.
Late in the first half and now the energy level is a bit more level, but its turning into a very dull match. Every other Europa League match has 2 goals already in the first half and this one could use a goal to open things up. Masopust has been playing very well lately.