UEFA European Conference League

In the rematch of the 4th preliminary round of the Conference League, the Mladá Boleslav footballers won 3:0 in Paks and with a 2:2 draw at home, they advanced to the main stage of the European Cup for the third time in history and after 17 years. In the premiere of new coach Andreas Brännström, the Central Bohemians decided after changing sides. In the 48th minute, Lamin Jawo opened the scoring and in the 55th minute, Martin Králik increased the score. Matěj Pulkrab added a fuse in the settings.

The football players from Mladoboleslav continued their progress over Lithuanian Transinvest and Hapoel Beer Ševa and went through the preliminary rounds to the main stage of the European Cup after seven consecutive failures. They have only played the group so far in the 2006/07 and 2007/08 seasons in the UEFA Cup. They will receive a bonus of 3.17 million euros (about 80 million crowns) for advancing to the Conference League. The names of the six opponents for the newly introduced league phase of the Conference League will be announced during the draw on Friday.

Czech football will have four representatives in Europe in the fall. Sparta Prague awaits the Champions League, Slavia the European League. Plzeň is also striving for promotion to the EL, and in the 4th preliminary round, after a 1:0 home win, they started a rematch on the Hearts pitch from 20:45. In case of failure, it will play in the Conference League.

Swedish coach Brännström, who only replaced David Holoubek on the bench on Saturday, chose the same setup as his opponent with three stoppers. Experienced defender Suchý returned to the lineup, who also took over the role of captain. Paks was led by the recovered left back János Szabó with a tape into the game.

The home team threatened for the first time in the third minute, when goalkeeper Trmal had to go to the ground after Vécsei’s shot from behind the goal. Paks was better in the first half, but paradoxically Jawo from Mladá Boleslav had the best chance. In the 18th minute, the Gambian striker pounced on Vydra’s cross and goalkeeper Simon pulled his header under the crossbar for a corner.

Paks was getting to the finish line and wasn’t afraid to shoot from mid-range. Trmal made six saves in the opening act, the heaviest after Haraszti’s shot from an angle in the 20th minute and Tóth’s attempt from the turn after half an hour of play. The players of both teams went to the cabins just like a week ago with a score of 0:0.

After a lackluster first half, the Czech team entered the second half in the best possible way. Jawo broke free past two defenders behind the penalty area and sent the ball elusively into the top right corner. The 29-year-old striker, who was plagued by health problems at the beginning of the season, celebrated his first start in the starting line-up in the new season with a goal.

Osváth could answer in a flash, but he did not hit the goal in front of Trmal himself from an ideal position. In the 55th minute, Ladra found Králik exactly from a standard situation and headed it to 2:0. The Slovakian stopper scored the third goal in the last four competitive matches, he also scored in the rematch at Hapoel Beer Sheva.

The “glued” conceding goals shook the home team and they could not get back into the pace. On the contrary, in the 65th minute Ladra could have decided, his cross shot after the break was saved by Simon with a great save.

Mladá Boleslav finished the final half hour with an overview. Paks scored the first shot on goal after the change of sides only in the 84th minute, but the scorer from the opening match, Böde, did not beat Trmal with his head.

In the second minute of regulation, substitute Pulkrab confirmed the triumph with an outside instep, and Central Bohemia also won in the third away match in the preliminary round. They went undefeated in three double matches. Paks lost in the cups after six matches and did not reach the premier stage.

Goals

Guests: 48. Jawo, 55. Králik, 90+2. Pulcrab

Assemblies

Home: Simon – Ötvös, Kinyik, Vas – Osváth, Vécsei (68. Balogh), Papp, Mezei (57. Böde), J. Szabó /C/ (76. B. Szabó) – Haraszti (57. Silye), Tóth

Guests: Trmal – Kostka, Suchý /C/, Králik, Fulnek (79. Kadlec) – Sakala (90. Donát), Vydra, Král – Ladra (90. Matějovský), Jawo (64. Langhamer), Kušej (79. Pulkrab)

Cards

Home: Osváth

Guests: Trmal, Pulkrab, Dry

Referee

Fisherman – Vanyzere, Nijssen (BEL)

Stadium

Fehérvári út Stadium, Paks (HUN)