The home fans alluded to the unfair past of the 27-year-old forward, who was tested positive for cocaine in January 2021, for which he received a two-year ban. “I’m actually surprised that this is the first time that someone has let it out on me since I came back in January,” Mandát admitted.
He wasn’t surprised by the negative reaction, but he was surprised by the method. “I went to their player, so I understand that they defended him. But in what way, that’s rather laughable. I’m really just laughing at it,” the wingman of the fourth formation described. “Of course, I still regret what I did and will live with it for the rest of my life. It was beef and I still regret it,” Mandát continued.
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Sparta – Pardubice, battleVideo: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
However, during the match, he did not care about the swearing of the fans. “On the contrary, it kicked me even more, it pissed me off. It got my blood pumping. I wanted to prove that I have changed and am a different person,” described the Jihlava protege, who has so far only played for Pardubice in the extra league.
In the end, the exciting battle between the two contenders for the title lasted almost three hours. Due to the double examination of the video, a lot of interruptions and especially overtime with raids. “I was wondering how long we would play here. It was already a long match. A lot of guys have small children at home, by the time they get back, they’ll already be asleep,” Mandát smirked.
Despite the number of skirmishes, his emotions on the ice did not seem so heated. “It seemed so dead to us that it was a match with Sparta. At times it was more like groping,” he said. Visiting coach Václav Varaďa also agreed. “I would have expected even more emotions for such a duel. I believe that it will improve during the season. After all, emotions make hockey beautiful,” smiled the coach.
However, the wrinkles on his forehead give him ineffective Pardubice power plays. Dynamo had five of them against Sparta, fourteen in three matches this year, but they didn’t use a single one. “You don’t do well at work every day either. Optically, we played them well. We squeeze the opponent, we just don’t score goals,” Varaďa regretted.
You also don’t do well at work every day, Václav Varaďa responded to a question about unused power-upsVideo: Sport.cz
The East Bohemians were close to jumping to 4:2 in numerical advantage, but despite the initial joy of the packed visiting team, the referee finally called it off after consulting with the video. “We all thought there was a goal, but it probably wasn’t,” defender Peter Čerešňák admitted. Forward David Cienciala’s shot bounced off the crossbar into the left post and out of the goal.
Before the raids, we asked Pavel Kousal if he had another trick, admits goalkeeper Josef KořenářVideo: Sport.cz
And this moment cost Dynamo three points. Sparta equalized in the last minute and controlled the raid lottery. “Probably a deserved draw. We wanted more than a point, but we’re taking it,” added Čerešňák.