Jablonec
Commentary
Straight from the beginning the Jablonec squad showed that they wanted to keep the points at home. A header that was saved by Knobloch after 12 minutes still kept Slovan in the match but only 4 minutes later the home team took the lead when Schranz stayed cool in front of Knobloch and finished successfully.
It took Slovan more than 35 minutes to appear themselves in the opposite box but Mosquera's shot after a corner kick couldn't create any real threat.
The second half started much better for hour team. Rabušic tried it from 30 metres and two minutes later the recently substituted Faško put a shot but the ball got slightly deflected and went out.
Only 5 minutes were played in the second half when Rondić invited Jablonec keeper Hanuš for a little dance and the latter one acted like he missed the classes before prom ball, stepped onto Rondić's foot and the referee decided after some time in front of the tv screen for penalty. Rabušic took it again after his missed shot an this time the ball was strong and accurate, so Slovan equalized to 1:1.
Everybody who had thought that the tide would turn now into Slovan's favour had to learn achingly that football doesn't follow a scriptbook (the outcome of Champions League group rankings excluded). In the 55th minute, while Slovan still digested their goal celebrations, it was Kubista who jumped highest after a corner kick and headed the ball into the far corner.
The last half hour Slovan was supposed to pressure, but just couldn't manage to do so. Instead it was Jablonec who had several more occassions to increase the lead. In the end Slovan lost 2:1 and took a blow against a direct opponent.
