Coach Brian Priske defended the way Sparta’s footballers approached the winning Prague derby with Slavia in the second round of the league’s extension group for the title. In contrast to the two recent home games against the city rival, Letenští bet on a secure defense and let him have significant possession of the ball.
According to Priske, the quest for dominance had to go aside, as the team’s only goal is the first title since 2014.
Sparta did not beat Slavia in the previous three competitive derbies of the season. In October, they lost 0:4 in Eden, then in mid-April they drew with them again in the league 3:3, and at the beginning of May they lost to them in the final of the domestic cup 0:2.
Today, however, they defeated their old rival 3:2 thanks to a goal by Ladislav Krejčí Jr. from the penalty spot in the seventh minute of regulation. With three rounds to go, Letenští lead the table by five points ahead of Slavia and are within reach of the title.
“If you look at our games in the season, we tried to be dominant, to break down the opposition and use the quality of our players. In almost all the games we had around 70 to 75 percent possession, but sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself, the team and your philosophy , to win. We’re fighting for a title that we haven’t won in nine years. That’s a long time,” Priske said at a press conference.
“Sparta’s philosophy is that we want to be dominant. We tried to beat Slavia three times before, but we didn’t succeed. When they play more openly, they are better. Sometimes you have to close it and today we showed Slavia’s vulnerability. We took advantage of that, they had a little luck and they got three points. I hope we will return to the philosophy of dominance, but now we have only one goal, and that is to win the title,” said Priske, who will celebrate his 46th birthday on Sunday.
He ordered a different tactic to his charges than in previous matches. “We tried to shorten the space on the field and slow down the game. We left the initiative to Slavia. The last two derbies were very open, up and down. We have to be honest, it wasn’t our best matches against Slavia before,” said Priske.
The former Danish international admitted that the match was extremely difficult for everyone. “It wasn’t easy watching the opposition have the ball 80 percent of the time, but the guys did great and enjoyed it. They fought, they ran, they did everything they could,” Priske said.
“I think the fans also understood what it was about today. We wanted to make it difficult for Slavia and we succeeded. If you ask me if I liked it, I’ll say no. But the guys were absolutely amazing “The team discipline was incredible,” said the former coach of Midtjylland and Antwerp.
2023-05-13 21:33:04
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