In the third round of the Chance League, Mladá Boleslav did not take advantage of a long power play on the Hradec Králové pitch and fell 1:2 after a strong performance by the home side. The wild opening 20 minutes, during which one goal was scored on each side, was ended by a sharp foul and the subsequent expulsion of Hradec’s Petr Juliš. After that, it was difficult for the Central Bohemians to assert themselves against the tenaciously defending Votrok, while on the opposite side, Filip Čihák scored in the second half. He made up for the botched start of the duel with a decisive strike, when he unluckily scored his own goal.
Although the team from the city of cars entered the season with a defeat, they subsequently recorded three clean sheets, one in the league and two against Lithuanian Transinvest. Progress in Europe gave the visitors the necessary peace of mind that the team, to which they lent their stadium for several seasons, desperately needed. Hradec could only be half-satisfied, because after the win in the opening round came a somewhat unlucky defeat in Pilsen.
While the visiting players had to wait almost 80 minutes for the opening goal in the rematch of the preliminary round of the Conference League on Thursday, they struck almost immediately in the Malšovická Arena. In the second minute, Vasil Kušej practiced with one of the defenders and sent a sharp ball into the small goal, from where Čihák knocked it behind his own goalkeeper. However, the sadness in the solidly filled stadium was quickly replaced by enthusiasm. Just a few tens of seconds later, the Votroci performed a handsome combination, which Ondřej Mihálik embellished with a pass to the better-built Adam Vlkanova, and the favorite of the local stands beat Matouš Trmal with the first shot.
However, the good mood among the supporters of black and white did not last long. In the 19th minute, Juliš pushed Daniel Langhamer unpleasantly, and although the home forward only saw a yellow card at first, after the intervention of the video, he had to go to the showers prematurely. Matěj Pulkrab could have punished the Central Bohemian powerhouse immediately, but Čihák robbed him of this chance at the last minute with a great slide at the border of the small area. The players in blue maintained a significant optical superiority until the half-time whistle, but they did not change anything about the tied result.
In addition, a shock came for the guests shortly after the change of sides. Daniel Horák put a free kick from the left side exactly on the head of Čihák and he made up for his hesitation at the beginning of the match by finishing against the post. Even Tomáš Král didn’t raise Boleslav’s hopes for a point gain, as he headed a corner kick into the crossbar 20 minutes before the end. Goalkeeper Adam Zadražil also helped Hradec in a key situation. He got out in the 80th minute with a great save against Jan Buryán’s attempt, de facto securing his team’s second triumph of the season.
Votroci will fight for the third one on August 11, when they travel to Ostrava. Mladá Boleslav will challenge České Budějovice at their stadium on the same day.
