The atmosphere is getting more and more stuffy. A group of Brno fans also protested against the club’s owner at the exit in Teplice, a black and white banner with the scathing message “Bartoněk out” lined the lower edge of the Brno sector.
Even the result of the fourth extension of the superstructure did not calm down the fans. Although Brno ended a long streak without scoring a goal, midfielder Jiří Texel’s strike was not enough for victory. Plichta in Teplice plus a win in Zlín nad Baníkem meant a fall to last place. One point behind Ševka. At the least convenient moment.
“Even if we won in Teplice, we would still be playing for everything with Zlín. But a draw would be enough for us, while we have to win like this. Maybe it’s better than speculating with a draw,” explained coach Hašek. “We’re playing at home with an opponent from the same group who got a similar number of points as us. If we win, we’ll go to the playoffs. Hopefully it’ll work out.”
Brno could already think about winning in Teplice. Maybe if he managed to increase the lead already in the first half: stopper Lukáš Endl had a shot, but he shot over the goal and the low stands. “Poor guy, now we’re going to get two chances in two games just because he hasn’t trained in two months. He plays with the screws in his shoulder and drives on principle. Coincidentally, he was able to score a point for us last time in Jablonec, and he had three in Teplice,” Hašek recounted.
“If we had gone 2-0 up, I’m sure we could have done it for three points. Instead, the opponent equalized, quite cheaply. Then we fought to turn the game in our favor. We had opportunities, but we didn’t succeed,” the Zbrojovka coach regretted.
By the way, her protégé Vlastimil Hrubý caught the league for Zbrojovka for the first time. At the age of thirty-eight. However, even his experience did not help to win. “It was a solution for the match in Teplice that we all agreed on. After a streak where we didn’t keep a clean sheet and were losing, we just wanted to do something. We cannot say that our number one goalkeeper Berkovec was catching badly and that we were losing because of him. Not at all,” Hašek explained. “We’ll see how we decide before Zlín.”
It will not only be about the goalkeeper, it will be necessary to make more important moves before the match of the year. “The whole time I’ve been in Brno, we’ve been under similar pressure. The boulder in the stomach remains. A win in Teplice would be a greater encouragement for us psychologically than a draw, but despite the stumbles, an increase in our performances could be seen in the last three matches, which gives us reason for optimism,” Hašek said. “We have it in our hands.”
