Compared to Tuesday’s duel in Moldova, Viktoria’s coach made a change in five positions. Even so, the reigning champion won (2:1), albeit with a scraped stomach. “It was a risk. But we had to make changes towards Tuesday’s home rematch. We know what we will be playing for with Tiraspol,” said Bílek after the match, which his team decided in the second half with a goal by defender Havel (2:1).
–
Due to the disciplinary punishment, Hejdy sent a completely new stopper duo Kaša-Čihák into the fight. The former is just getting back into the game after a long injury, the 23-year-old Čihák made his debut for Viktoria. Instead of Sýkora, Bucha and Kopica, Qose, Cada and Holík came on.
–
Pilsen coach Michal Bílek during the match.Photo: Miroslav Chaloupka, CTK
“We could see that the interplay was going well. Logical. The eleven that ran out had never played together. But we needed to spread the strength and we also wanted to see guys who hadn’t played as much. It was not at all an underestimation of Pardubice on our part. Although they lost in the first round against Budějovice, they were excellent. Which they showed again now. We appreciate the wins very much,” said Bílek.
–
After the first half, his team led 1:0 with a goal by Kliment, but mainly thanks to the great goalkeeper Staňko, who made two great saves. Pilsen struggled, that’s why Bílek sent the starting pair Buch-Sýkor and the scorpion Pilař into the game right from the start of the second half.
–
Suddenly it was a different coffee from Viktoria. Although the guests equalized with Solil, the West Bohemians were able to decide with Havel. They threw away a lot of chances to do that. “The half-time changes were a bit in the plan, we wanted to save more players. On the other hand, we have seen that we are not doing as well as we would have imagined. We needed to revive the game. When the guys from the usual eleven came on the field, we started to have pressure. They did everything we wanted them to do. That is, to improve the quality of the game and lead the match to victory,” praised Bílek.
–
Milan Havel from Pilsen celebrates the decisive goal.Photo: Miroslav Chaloupka, CTK
As in Tiraspol, he used a two-pronged model with Chorý and Kliment, who won the first half with a header. In the second half, Bílek allowed him to rest, Viktoria returned to the mandatory style with one attacker.
–
“I think that both Choré and Kliment play better when they are two at the top. But that does not mean that we will start like this in the rematch with Tiraspol. The model with two strikers is simply one of the variants that we can practice,” added Bílek, who, due to the course of the match, was unable to fulfill the intention that none of the players who played from the first minute on Tuesday against Tiraspol did not play ninety minutes. Havel s Kalvachem had to stay on the lawn until the last second.
—
