Sparta’s football players drew 1:1 at home with Ostrava in the ninth round of the first league and played the fifth tie in a row. Prague led from the 22nd minute thanks to Lukáš Sadílek, but Silesia equalized immediately after the break with their only shot in the match thanks to Jiří Klím.
The wards of Danish coach Brian Priske have not lost in the top competition for the eighth time in a row and are third in the incomplete table. Baník did not win in the fifth of the last six rounds, even in the fourth away match in the league season, it drew and belongs to the tenth place.
“We played an amazing game in many ways. We were clearly better, we should have won, but for various reasons the ball didn’t end up in the goal. The opponent had only one shot on goal in 97 minutes of the game, he scored from 22 meters,” Priske said at the press conference .
The duel was spicy for coach Pavel Vrba, who led Sparta before his engagement in Ostrava, and midfielder Plavšič. Last year, the Serbian player left Letná for arch-rival Slavia, from where he is visiting Baník.
“I want to say that I felt good at Sparta. I worked here with (sporting director) Tomáš Rosicky and in my opinion it was a good collaboration. What happened happened. That just sometimes happens to coaches in teams that have bigger ambitions rather than perhaps player quality, it becomes,” said Vrba.
Sparta started actively, and from the first chance in the 22nd minute, they prevailed. Jankt’s cross fell to Sadílek, who, with the help of a rebound from Ndefe, opened the scoring with his first goal in the league season. The Ostrava players, including Vrba, were angry because the goal was preceded by a Spartan corner, which, according to replays, should not have been.
In the 35th minute, Prague missed three great opportunities within 10 seconds. Zelený’s shot from the penalty area hit the crossbar, Čvančar’s header was saved by goalkeeper Laštůvka, and Sadílek headed just wide.
Slezana did not create anything in the opening act, but they equalized less than a minute after the change of sides. Klíma shot from a distance and goalkeeper Kovář did not reach the post on his shot. The Ostrava forward scored the third goal of the season in the top league.
“We are stupid. We don’t learn from the mistakes we make and we start the second half with a cheap loss in our half. If we don’t offer a goal to the opponent directly, then it’s a 20-meter round goal. We’re just messing around now,” the captain told the club’s website Sparta David Pavelka.
The home team had more possession, but they didn’t create a clear chance. Substitute Minčev missed Laštůvka’s shot from an angle, and Čvančar’s shot was deflected into the corner by former Spartan Lischka.
In the top competition, Sparta has not lost against Ostrava in the last 12 matches, and even at home for the tenth time in a row. With their fifth league draw in a row, they equaled the club record from February and March 2018. The only time they experienced a longer streak without a win in a separate league was in the 1996/97 season, when they did not win in the opening seven rounds, but still celebrated the title in the end. Letenští are the draw “king” of the competition with five tied results. Baník did not win away in the league for the tenth time in a row.
“Today we mainly showed character. We didn’t show much in terms of quality, in the pre-final phase we could have done much more and we could have gotten into more situations that would have been interesting for us. On the other hand, I really value the point from Sparta,” he stated Willow.
Sparta Prague – Baník Ostrava 1:1 (1:0)
Goals: 22. Sadílek – 46. J. Klíma. Referee: T. Klíma – Kubr, Machač – Franěk (video). ŽK: Sadílek, Pavelka – Laštůvka. Spectators: 15,457.
Sparta: Kovář – Mejdr (76. Wiesner), Sörensen, Zelený, Höjer – Jankto (76. Minčev), Pavelka, Sadílek, Daněk (67. Karabec) – Čvančara, Kuchta. Coach: Priske.
Ostrava: Laštůvka – Ndefe, Frydrych, Lischka, Fleišman (86. Šehič) – Cadu (81. Buchta), Boula, Kuzmanovič, Tetour (76. Tijani), Plavšič – J. Klíma. Trainer: Willow.
