Footballers from Slavia Prague can continue to dream of the basic group of the Champions League. In the second leg of the competition’s 3rd qualifying round in Belgium, they won 1-0 against Union Saint-Gilloise at the Anderlecht stadium, which saw them progress unchallenged after a 3-1 win in Eden. The Czech vice-champion almost didn’t let the offensive-minded opponent into the end. On the contrary, substitute joker Václav Jurečka scored a few minutes before the end and it was over. Slavia will play in the play-off against Lille and are two games away from their dream goal.
Bulletproof Kinsky
If Slavia has any security at the beginning of the season, it is a working defense and bulletproof goalkeeper Antonín Kinský. The young goalkeeper has yet to score a goal in the Czech top flight. In the Champions League qualifiers, he caught the ball from his own net only once, and that was surpassed by teammate Alexandr Bužek.
Whoever expected that the Czech vice-champion would be under pressure in Brussels and that one shot after another would rain down on Kinski was wrong. Once the ball rang off the crossbar as Promise David tried to head it, Kinský pulled off a great save against Puertas at the end of the second half and that was it for the side’s serious threat to his goal.
Puertas didn’t even strike out
Union SG’s Swiss midfielder Cameron Puertas was supposed to be the biggest danger for Slavia. In Eden, he was well guarded by Christos Zafeiris, who did not let go of the star and completely poisoned the match. A similar image was seen in retaliation. Sprinkled with living water, Zafeiris took on the role of “watchdog” again and the Union star almost didn’t miss a beat. The young Slavist left the pitch in the 64th minute, feeling that he had accomplished the task and made a significant impact on the progress of Prague.
The patient paid off, but Jurečka is still able
If anyone doubted whether striker Tomáš Chorý would be worth Slavia, it must be clear after the fights with the Belgian opponent in the third preliminary round of the Champions League. This was a great investment! In the first match in Eden, the Czech representative scored two goals, which helped the team build a key match for the rematch.
Although the striker did not score a goal in Belgium, one look was enough for everyone to know how much Chorý was fighting for a qualifying result. The Explzen sniper left the lawn beaten, bruised, but happy, knowing that progress was at home. However, the alternating joker Václav Jurečka was the hero. Although he only played Saturday’s duel with Olomouc in the season compared to his attacking competitors, he scored the winning goal in Brussels and showed the coaches that he deserves more minutes on the pitch.
Trpišovský forgave his experiments
If someone in the past criticized the coach of the stitched team, Jindřich Trpišovský, for excessively rotating the lineup, this time he had to breathe a sigh of relief. Compared to the first match, the starting eleven differed only in one post, when the young Prebsl was replaced in the three-man stopper line by captain Tomáš Holeš, whose punishment for the red card had expired. However, no one could be surprised by this change. The bet on a fighter with experience in heavy battles was understandable. And it paid off.
