Plzen have packed it and gone way to defensive... Just as I say that they conced on a freekick. Probably Antwerp's only shot of the day. This is completely on Vrba, he packed it in way too early against an opponent that was dead in the water - 10 men and hadn't shown anything all match.
FT Plzen 2 - 1 Antwerp (2-2a)... at least Plzen had the decency to grab some points on their way out. Vrba smacked his head so hard it cut open when Plzen conceded, and frankly he deserves it with how they blew that. The players deserve credit too, they should have put that way in regulation multiple times. Slavia will be the only Czech team in a group stage this season, the only consolation is that in a 5 year coefficient score we are replacing our previous worst year with this.
We finally started Stanciu and finally looked like the team we were last season. Yeah it was just Budejovice, but we had about 30 shots on goal, and we have finally got our star match-ready. The rest of the league seems to be completely down so we can probably walk to a championship. It's all about a Champion's League though.
As a neutral that is more concerned about league coefficient, part of me would rather see Slavia in Europa League... I'm sure fans disagree.
I like that the lineup has Stanciu with Traore and Soucek behind him. I am less thrilled by Van Buren and Olayinka starting, but sometimes they surprise us.
No goal yet, but much like last weekend this looks much more like last seasons team. Cluj are on the back foot more often than not, but they always are looking to counter. So still nervous
It was a nice strike, but really should have been saved by any decent keeper. I'm not very impressed by Cluj so far though, so I am liking Slavia's chances even more. I still doubt his ability in bigger matches, but will admit that Hovorka is exceeding expectations lately.
At halftime on the road we have 62% possession and a 10-4 shot advantage. We also have complete over 100 more passes... I actually think Cluj look worse than anyone we played in Europa League, so now I wish we had played Celtic since they are both even worse and more famous.
Cluj pressing much more in the 2nd half, and Slavia not doing the best job of handling it. One of those situations where I think as long as they survive the first fifteen it will start tilting the other way.
Kolar is having an excellent season honestly, big penalty save. Slavia though just aren't doing much in the final third this half. If they go back to Prague with the lead you have to like their chances though.
Full time, I would have rather seen us apply more pressure in the 2nd half but nobody ever feels bad about an away goal advantage.
Lackluster match, I think Slavia will advance, but even when they were in control it just seemed half-speed.
Interesting line-up today as we are basically our entire starting lineup from the Champions League. Glad to see Baluta and Yusuf getting a chance to start. Looking across the league there are some weird upset results, hoping Bohemians don't get any ideas.
Wow, the goalkeeper we are starting is 17, either he has a bright future or we don't respect Bohemians at all. We're ahead, but for the most part we look like a team playing an experimental lineup.
Got his first clean sheet too, but it doesn't sound like he was called into much action. I only caught the first half, but they were easily the worst part of the line-up especially Yusuf who looked very clumsy up front. I have seen Baluta do well as a sub for Slavia last season, but Yusuf after a fast start with Bohemians last season has looked a bit out of his depth in Czech league.
Pribram 4 - 0 Jablonec Zlin 1 - 4 Karvina Liberec 3 - 1 Sparta Slavia 4 - 0 Bohemians Plzen 4 - 0 Opava Mlada Boleslav 4 - 2 Ceske Budejovice Olomouc 2 - 0 Teplice Ostrava 3 - Slovacko Odd weekend with a lot of lop-sided results favoring predicted relegation teams. Sparta hot-seat undoubtedly gets hotter. The brightest part of the season so far is probably that Adam Hlozek has confirmed that last spring was no fluke. Have to think he will be drawing international interest soon as Man City and Bayern Munich wanted him while still a youth player and now he is a key player having just this month turned 17. Signs of life from Plzen who had an awful few weeks Slavia are clearly the class of the league still even with their questionable transfer window, and for as much as people (like me) said their defense would be a disaster... they've conceded just one goal in the first month of the season throughout all competitions.
Masopust just missed a fairly simple chip that would have seen off the tie... Was a back and forth start, but Slavia seem to be taking control as the half goes on, need better delivery on set pieces though.
Kral probably just got away with an elbow in the box... then at the other end Skoda heads it just wide. Cluj would have felt justifiably aggrieved if that had gone in.