Liberec
Nguyen – Mikula, Kačaraba, Karafiát, Hybš – Breite (C), Oscar - Malinský (70. Pešek), Mara (59. Alibekov), Potočný - Musa (52. Kuchta).
Reichl - Sladký, Beneš (C), Jemelka, Kerbr (80. Texl) - Greššák (18. Zmrzlý) - Pilař (Látal), Houska, Plšek, Falta - Yunis.
Commentary
Playing in red shirts, Olomouc began the match more actively and kicked the first corner. Crossing towards the front post, Karafiát turned the kick away but another corner came and this time Nguyen had to smother the ball. In the ninth minute, Slovan had a standard situation from which Potočný received a pass, but the Olomouc defence handled it. In the 18th minute, a small skirmish broke out after Greššák was sent to the ground. The referee solved the situation with two yellow cards to Breite and Kerbros.
In the 26th minute, Mara didn’t hesitate and shot from the volley, which yielded a corner, but he didn’t really threaten. Five minutes later, Breite passed the ball over to Potočný, whose shot was stopped by Reichl. Then he had another chance, taking a great shot and continuing on the goalkeeper, trying to find the near-side post but missed. Slovan more and more often got into fast breaks and one ended with a quick shot by Malinský, but Reichl intervened in time. In the 40th minute, Pilař sent a pass through the Karafiát to Jakub Plšek and he slipped in the first goal of the match.
Slovan had more energy to begin the second half but didn’t seriously threaten. That changed in the 55th minute after a header by Karafiát, which just missed the left post. At the other end, Kerbr had a dangerous chance but Nguyen made two saves in quick succession. There were plenty of extracurricular activities and referee Houdek did not hesitate to show yellow cards, often to the bewilderment of the fans in the stadium. In the 70th minute, Falta shot from outside the area and Nguyen had to do a lot to prevent the goal, but in the end he succeeded. After a Liberec corner, Alibekov got his head on the ball right in front of the goalkeeper and was felled by Mikula, but no penalty was given.
Slovan pushed harder and created some dangerous opportunities. At one point, Karafiát fired into the path of a defender and the deflected ball went to Pešek, but his attempt just missed. In the 86th minute, Pešek's volley appeared to hit the crossbar, but he complained in vain that the ball had crossed the goal line. There was a big effort by Slovan to do something, but Sigma defended well and escaped with a 1-0 victory.
