The atmosphere at Teplice Stínadly | Video: Diary/František Bílek
The home coach of Frťala celebrated his 54th birthday on Friday, but before the match he mainly solved problems with the composition of the lineup. Švand and captain Mareček expanded the already large squad today, so the glassmakers only had four field players and substitute goalkeeper Ludha on the bench. The German got a chance between the three posts in the league for the first time since May of last year.
Teplice entered the match better and in the 10th minute they were close to the opening goal, after Harušťák’s header, the chasing Ševínský knocked the ball into his own post. The home side came seven minutes later. Horský took over the contested ball in the middle of the field and surprisingly easily got in front of Bačkovský, who he beat with a shot to the front post. Slavia’s regular player, who spent last year on loan at Slovan, scored his first goal in a Teplice shirt.
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Liberec coach Kováč reacted at the beginning of the second half with a triple substitution and the move paid off. Kríčfaluš headed a high cross only for Letenay to run, who went around the running German and finished into the empty goal. The Slovakian striker needed less than a minute on the pitch to score and made his first appearance in his sixth start in the Czech league.
Višinský could have made a lightning turn, but he missed from an ideal position. Slovan rose significantly after the change of sides, but his efforts to press were hampered by frequent and long interruptions. They waited until the 72nd minute for another chance. Letenay headed all by himself from the small area, but the German pulled off a great reflex.
The end of the match was mainly about duels, but the home team still struck and Liberec lost at Stínadly for the fourth time in a row. Bačkovský ran to a high center to the edge of the penalty area, but he didn’t hit the ball perfectly, and Gning, who was lurking behind him, had an easy job. The Senegalese forward scored his 10th goal in the Czech league and made his mark for the first time since the end of the 2022/23 season and the duel with Jablonec.
“A big boulder fell from our hearts. I think we could have won the first half by a bigger margin. In the second, we made a mistake again, which dramatized the match and made us nervous. Liberec then had two chances, but with stubbornness, will and enthusiasm, we were able to win the match,” Zdenko Frťala visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
His counterpart got wrinkles on his forehead. “The second half got better, we scored a goal right away and helped each other. In the final, we made a mistake in the 94th minute and lost. It’s a big shame, a point would be good for us, but we probably didn’t deserve it,” Kováč summed up Liberec’s second loss in a row.
Teplice – Liberec 2:1 (1:0)
Goals: 17. Horský, 90.+4 Gning – 46. Letenay. Referee: Trska – Volf, Desperate – Machálek (video). ŽK: Vachoušek, Svatek, Horský – Mikula, Višinský, Frýdek. Spectators: 3876.
Teplice: Němeček – Bílek, Kričfaluši, Mičevič – Radosta, Beránek (26. Svatek), Jukl, Harusťák (81. Čerepkai) – Trubač – Vachoušek (46. Gning), Horský (73. Labík). Trainer: Frftala.
Liberec: Bačkovský – Mikula (46. Halinský), Ševínský, Preisler (46. Purzitidis) – Ghali, Icha, Hlavatý, Kayondo – Višinský (83. Dulay), Tupta (67. Frýdek) – Nyarko (46. Letenay). Coach: Kovac.
