Sheriff sent Rasheed Akanbi into the lead in the 36th minute from the penalty spot, Tomáš Chorý also equalized from a penalty kick before the break. Pavel Bucha decided the match in the 55th minute with an accurate header.
Coach Michal Bílek’s men won the third duel in this year’s qualification for the elite competition, in the last preliminary round they eliminated Helsinki after winning 2:1 away and 5:0 at home.
The Zimbru stadium in Chisinau was played because Tiraspol is located in the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria, where cup matches cannot be held due to Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine by UEFA’s decision.
The West Bohemians started in an unconventional 4-4-2 formation with two strikers Chorý and Kliment. The Sýkora midfielder played in the position of left defender, where he has already jumped in in the past.
Plzeň goalkeeper Staněk saved Luškja’s shot in the second minute. On the other side, a moment later, Abalora also flashed, eliminating Buch’s wound.
The two-sided offensive football continued in the following minutes. Renan Guedes missed the Plzeň goal from a distance, Kopic’s subsequent shot didn’t even fit between the posts, Abalora then caught Mosquera in a great chance.
After a slightly calmer passage, Sýkor played in the penalty area and Rasheed Akanbi converted the penalty in the 36th minute. After a while, the home goalkeeper brought down Havel, and referee Makkelie, after checking the video, which premiered in this year’s cup qualifiers in the 3rd preliminary round of the Champions League, ordered a penalty kick for Plzeň as well. The patient did not hesitate, similar to the opening match of the 2nd preliminary round in Helsinki.
At the beginning of the second half, Staněk stopped the visitors twice, who flashed against Pernambuco’s free kick and the subsequent shot by the Brazilian striker. Pilsen escaped from Tiraspol’s onslaught and scored in the 55th minute. The ball after Mosquera’s center bounced to Buch and he unusually headed it past Abalora.
In the end, Viktoria did not put the Moldovan champions under much pressure and won the third of four competitive matches in the season.
The West Bohemians would receive at least 213 million crowns in conversion (for participation in the play-offs and the certainty of at least the group of the European League) in case of elimination of Sheriff, plus several tens of millions of crowns for the ten-year coefficient. Pilsen would play the winner of the duel between Karabakh and Ferencváros Budapest in the final 4th preliminary round of the Champions League. If Viktoria and Tiraspol were to fall out, they would face the loser of the pair CZ Belgrade – Pjunik Yerevan in the 4th preliminary round of the Europa League.
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