Olomouc – Slavia footballers won the 15th round of the first league in Olomouc 3:1. The Prague team won for the fourth time out of the last five matches in the top flight and partially made up for the week-old past defeat at home to Pilsen. In the middle of the regular season, the Red and Whites continue to lose two points to defending champion Sparta from second place in the table.
Conrad Wallem gave the visitors the lead in Hané in the fourth minute, Jakub Pokorný equalized at the end of the first quarter of an hour. Even before the break, Michal Tomič gave Prague back the lead, and Václav Jurečka added the insurance in the 56th minute. The Hanás did not score after four rounds and three draws in a row, and they are seventh in the table.
Former Czech international Novák made his first appearance in the Hanák lineup after returning from abroad, who started in the Czech league after eight years. Prague coach Trpišovský made four changes to the starting line-up after Thursday’s 2-0 victory over AS Rome in the Europa League.
Two of the rested players took care of the leading goal right at the start. Olomouc’s defense still deflected the corner kick, but Wallem pounced on Ševčík’s subsequent cross and opened the scoring with his second goal of the league season.
The Prague onslaught was blunted in the 15th minute. Vodháněl found the head of Pokorný with a cross from a free kick in the penalty area, who did not give goalkeeper Mandous a chance. The 27-year-old stopper scored for the third time in the league season.
In the 24th minute, he was close to the second goal by Wall, but his hard shot was deflected into the corner by Pokorný. Otherwise, the opening act was played mainly in the middle of the field. It wasn’t until the 43rd minute that Provod passed a cross from the left side into the small area, where Tomič found his way best and sent Slavia into the lead again.
The Slovak winger or midfielder scored the winning goal in the second away league game in a row, guiding the red and white team to a 2-0 win in Ďolíček over Bohemians 1905 two weeks ago.
After the change of sides, goalkeeper Digaň kept the hope of an equalizer for the home team, who caught Van Buren’s chance. After the break, Juliš, the home team, failed to make a breakthrough on the other side. On the contrary, in the 56th minute, Jurečka transformed his action from the right side with the help of Teče Pokorný and secured a two-goal lead for Prague. A member of the wider staff of the Czech national team followed up on Thursday’s goal against AS Rome.
The celebrants had the upper hand. Masopust got another chance, but he shot high over Mandous’s goal. The people of Prague then focused on guarding the lead, and in the 78th minute, Mandous distinguished himself when he headed substitute Fiala’s header into the corner.
The visitors did not allow any further complications and won the seventh of the last eight mutual league duels. The Red and Whites have scored points away from home in the highest competition for the ninth time in a row and are the best team there in the season. Sigma did not win at home in the league for the third time in the last four matches.
Coaches’ votes after the game:
Václav Jílek (Olomouc): “We saw a very high-quality league match in which Slavia created several scoring opportunities and converted three of them. Although the second and third goals were a bit of a coincidence. We lacked a bit of luck. It was not obvious that Slavia played hard on Thursday match, she showed the strength of her midfield again, this needs to be perceived. We wanted to play actively, but compared to the opponent, we lacked accuracy in key moments. The goal was decided just before the break, which knocked us down after our excellent passage before that and it helped Slavia a lot . She was aware of her lead, she didn’t have to rush anywhere, and that was fine with her. She had a lot of open space and took advantage of that for a three-pointer.”
Jindřich Trpišovský (Slavia): “We entered the match brilliantly, perhaps the best of the whole season. We scored a goal. A quick equalizer helped Olomouc, but we were better from the second goal on and we deservedly won. The goal just before the break was decisive. After the change of sides, we sent off Van Buren, who he used his speed, which benefited our game. We are happy that we managed this match for three points. In the end, the home team had two or three chances to dramatize the match. Olomouc has a very good team, and even if the result looks clear, there is a lot of work behind our victory . After Thursday’s cup match, we gave a mature performance again. It was a very interesting match, which was helped by the excellent scenery and also the perfectly prepared turf.”
Sigma Olomouc – Slavia Prague 1:3 (1:2)
Goals: 15. Pokorný – 4. Wallem, 43. Tomič, 56. Jurečka. Referee: Volek – Hájek, Machač – Všetečka (video). ŽK: Breite, Zmrzlý, Vodháněl – Jurečka, Vlček, Wallem, Douděra, Trpišovský (coach). Viewers: 8897.
Olomouc: Digaňa – Chvátal (66. Křišťál), Pokorný, Novák, Zmrzlý – Ventúra, Breite – Vodháněl (85. Dele), Zorvan (66. Pospíšil), Navrátil (66. Sláma) – Juliš (74. Fiala). Coach: Jílek.
Slavia: Mandous – Masopust, Ogbu (46. Vlček), Holeš – Tomič (83. Dumitrescu), Ševčík (78. Hromada), Oscar, Wallem – Provod, Jurečka (78. Chytil) – Tijani (46. Van Buren). Coach: Trpišovský.
Sport football 15th round AUDIO Slavia 1st league Olomouc PHOTO
