Are you relieved after your first away win? Thanks to this, you have a full six points after two rounds.
It is an important result for us. It’s still just one game, but I think that last season we might not have managed such a game and maybe even lost. However, in Budějovice, the team could see that they believed in themselves. It helped us that we had more fighting players on the pitch than last season, as well as the transition to a different formation. I would also like to praise the boys from the bench: we increased our turnovers, we were more accurate and we were hungry for goals. The match had only two minuses, Dynamo’s goal at 1:1 and David Douděra’s injury. His hamstring caught him, we’ll see what’s next based on the results of the examination.
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💎 The player of the match award went to the scorer of the first goal 💥 #cebsla pic.twitter.com/rn1XXIuMlx
— SK Slavia Prague (@slaviaofficial) July 30, 2023
You started well in Budějovice, but you converted only one chance in the first half. What is it?
There was more. Jurečka went to the goal alone, Oscar could have finished his situation better and the Budejovice goalkeeper Šípoš had several great saves. We were in control of the entire first half and did not allow the opponent to threaten the goal, only the second goal was missing. He would calm us down.
Instead, you conceded at the end of the second half.
We talked at half-time that our performance was good but that we needed to add the second goal. We expected the home team to increase activity, which is exactly what happened. After a beautiful event, we cashed in at 1:1. Čmelík got free through Holi (defender Tomáš Holeš), sent a fantastic cross in front of the goal and Ondrášek equalized with his head. We only improved thanks to the aforementioned substitutions. We scored the second goal, but then we continued to waste chances. He calmed us down until Chytil scored a goal to make it 3:1, that definitely broke the game. A big plus was the atmosphere in the sold-out stadium, interesting football was played from both sides.
Let’s stop at the newcomer Mojmír Chytil, who started in Slavia with two goals in two matches. What do you think?
The team received Mojmír well, the players already consider him one of them. He does everything to get into the team. His advantage is that he knows a lot of guys from the past. In Budějovice he played similarly to Hradec, he contributed a lot to the result with his activity. His entry on the pitch calmed us down at a time when we needed it the most. Already in Olomouc, he played at a great pace and intensity, as evidenced by the fights against a more tired opponent.
Did you expect him to have such a fast start?
True, I am surprised by the calmness at the end. He didn’t give a penalty in Budějovice, but that composure was not so common with him before. He was one of our best players in both games. In order to get into the starting line-up, he still needs to improve in terms of fitness.
And what about another attacker Václav Jurečka? Last season’s top scorer in the league has yet to score.
It’s a big surprise to me that he hasn’t scored a goal yet. Even in practice, he hits it eight or nine times out of ten. In matches, he still lacks the lightness and comfort from the end of last season, which is completely normal. Some are on the wave, some are not. For now, others are taking it upon themselves. As I know Venca, he’s certainly going through a lot, but for him it’s all about one successful goal. Then it will go back to normal.