Slovak footballer Róbert Boženík opened his scoring account in the British Isles when he scored in the 39th minute against Hull City in the match of the 25th round of the English Championship and set up a one-goal victory for his team.
The winning goal
For the Slovak striker, it was the first goal in the Stoke City jersey, where he headed last summer from Portuguese Boavista.
The Slovak attacker took advantage of a great pass from a teammate Lamina Cisseand thanks to a nice attack, he faced an empty goal.
VIDEO: Róbert Boženík’s first goal in the Stoke City jersey
The home players complained about the Slovakian being offside, but the referees did not listen to their wishes. The VAR system is not available in the second English competition. However, it seemed that Boženík timed his attack perfectly and avoided the offside trap.
Oxygen and tears
However, Boženík was injured right at the beginning of the second half after a hard fall on his shoulder. During the long treatment, he needed oxygen and finally left the field in the 54th minute with a painful grimace, tears in his eyes and a fixed left hand.
VIDEO: Boženík leaves the field injured
Before that, he last scored a goal on May 17 last year for Portuguese Boavista. In the Stoke jersey, he scored the first accurate hit in his 21st competitive appearance.
“We were waiting for Róbert to score, today he did and then he dislocated his shoulder. This is not good news at all,” coach Robins told the English media after the match.
“He looked distressed when he passed me. He went to the hospital, so we’ll see what the result is. He looked like a real striker today. He worked on it and looked like he could score and he did in the end. It’s another blow for us. But we played really good football on a difficult pitch. Luckily we managed to win and I’m delighted.”
Riga is happy with the goal of a compatriot
Boženík’s compatriot and teammate Tomáš Rigo, three years younger, was on the pitch until the sixth minute of added time in the second half. He returned to the starting line-up after five games. “I’m happy that ‘Robi’ scored his first goal. Unfortunately, he got injured, but I hope he’ll be back soon.
I was telling my teammates that we should win for him because he played a very good game. This victory belongs to him and I hope he will return soon,” said Rigo in an interview with the club’s channels.
The main arbiter added up to 17 minutes due to the treatment of Boženík. In the end, Stoke defended the tightest lead and got full points after the previous three games without a win, ending Hull’s streak of five duels without a loss. In the interim table, the “potters” are on the 9th place.
After the match, Rigo also reacted to the busy schedule in England at the turn of the year: “It’s a bit crazy now. I had a holiday at this time a year ago, so I have to get used to it. I enjoy every game, every minute on the pitch, so I’m happy that I could play 90 minutes for the first time in a Stoke shirt and I hope that there will be more games like this.”
VIDEO: Cut of the Hull City – Stoke City match
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