30.11.2018

Fortuna League, Round 17: FK Teplice – FC Slovan Liberec 1:0

Coach Hornyák’s charges fought in the freezing cold in the 17th round of the FORTUNA:LIGA in a place where they’ve had little success. The last time Liberec won in Teplice was on 27 February 2016. In the last four of those matches, Slovan scored only one goal - that coming in a 2-2 draw in the third round of this season. Unfortunately, the losing streak continued in Teplice as Jakub Hora’s goal in the 3rd minute stood up until the end. The only positive aspect was the return of the injured Mary, but without Petr Ševčík, the team didn’t have much of an attack.

17.kolo, Friday 30.11.2018, 18:00, AGC Aréna Na Stínadlech

Teplice

1:0

(1:0)

Liberec Liberec

Teplice: Grigar - Vondrášek, Čmovš, Král, Krob - Hora, Ljevakovič (C), Kučera, Hyčka (75. Luts) - Trubač (88. Hošek), Vaněček (72. Červenka)

Liberec: Nguyen - Koscelník, Kačaraba, Karafiát, Hybš - Potočný, Breite (C), Oscar (77. Malinský), Pešek - Mara (46. Pázler) - Aarons (70. Oršula)

Goal: 3. Hora

Yellow card: 61. Čmovš, 72. Vaněček - 59. Hybš, 83. Pešek

Referees: Matějček - Caletka, Šimáček

Diváci: 1187

Commentary

Slovan didn’t start the match well defensively, when Jakub Hora who passed Nguyen and in the 3rd minute, scored into the empty goal to make it 1-0 for the home side. After the goal, the Teplicians went into a defensive shell and waited for Liberec to attack. About halfway through the first half, Teplice nearly doubled their lead on a counterattack when the combination of Hora and Trubač broke in, but this time Nguyen made the save.

Two minutes later, Pešek got Liberec’s first shot on target, but he could not beat Grigar. With 29 minutes played, Trubač's well-taken indirect free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, but fortunately for Slovan, his missile flew wide. About 10 minutes later, Teplice got another great chance but Vaněček missed by mere centimetres. Two minutes before halftime, another Liberec shot was caught by Grigar, but otherwise, Liberec didn’t have any great chances and the score remained 1-0 at the break. In the 52nd minute, Karafiát had Liberec’s best chance of the second half, but was again denied by Grigor. Immediately, Slovan were on the defensive and a drive by Kučera was turned away by the quick reflexes of Filip Nguyen to keep the visiting team in the game. A few minutes later, Nguyen was busy again, catching a header by Hora in his arms. Despite a flurry of action around the Liberec goal, it remained just a one-goal difference.

In the 70th minute, Jan Pázler, entered the game as a substitute at the start of the half, was given a corner but Grigar didn’t allow a rebound. A minute later, Pázler nearly knocked a Teplice corner into his own net, with Nguyen knocking the ball away from the goal line. For the rest of the match, Slovan never really seriously threatened on offence, with the absence of Petr Ševčík very noticeable in the latter stages.

As the time increased and the temperature fell, it seemed that everyone was just waiting for the final whistle. Once again, the Teplice ground was not a welcoming place for Slovan, who fell 1-0.