A battle for top spot with no winner: Viagem draw 1–1 with Slavia B

A crowd of 2,732 spectators turned up at the Municipal Stadium in Ústí nad Labem, including around a hundred supporters of the visiting Slavia side. They all witnessed a thrilling football battle, the intensity of which reflected both teams’ positions at the top of the table. The match featured thirty shots, a third of which were on target, and fifteen corner kicks. Added to this were one missed penalty by the visitors and two goals scored.

Slavia took the lead as early as the 8th minute thanks to Kolísek. Ústí, however, did not let themselves be caught off guard and equalised before half-time – in the 43rd minute, centre-back David Březina found the net, once again from a free-kick.

After the break, the visitors had a chance to seal the win, but goalkeeper Tomáš Holý saved Savovič’s penalty. Shortly afterwards, the home fans were celebrating, but the euphoria in the stands quickly faded – the referee disallowed Viagem’s opening goal for offside.

Ústí then appealed for a penalty for a clear handball by one of Slavia’s players in the penalty area, but the ball rebounded off a clumsy defender and play continued. “There were a lot of controversial moments,” said Ústí coach David Oulehla, reluctant to speculate too much after the match.

“I watched that Slavia penalty; in my view, it was a very soft one,” he said, unhappy with the referee’s decision. “I don’t want to comment on it too much, but there have been quite a few of those moments against us now. We’re professionals; we need to keep those mistakes to a minimum. I haven’t seen the opponent’s hand yet, but it looked a bit odd. However, I don’t want to use that as an excuse; it’s down to us and our performance,” he emphasised.

The manager was particularly disappointed with the team’s effectiveness from set pieces. “We had about ten corners; with that many, we simply have to be more dangerous. Apart from Březina scoring again, we didn’t create anything special,” Oulehla grumbled.

That is one of the reasons why Viagem’s team only managed a draw from the match, even though, alongside their opponents and Příbram, they are one of the last unbeaten sides in the competition. Nevertheless, they are no longer top of the table – Karviná capitalised on this slip-up and, following a 2–0 win over Kladno, have taken the top spot.

Both Oulehla and the home side’s penalty hero nevertheless valued the point gained against the reserves of a Champions League participant. “After seven matches, we’re still in the mix – we’ll definitely take that. Sure, we’ve dropped a few points along the way, but there’s no getting them back now. We’ve picked up a point today that will certainly count in the end; I think Slavia will stay in the top five for a long time – they’ve got a very skilful team,” said goalkeeper Tomáš Holý, acknowledging his opponents’ quality.

• FK VIAGEM Ústí nad Labem – SK Slavia Prague B 1:1 (1:1)
• Goals: 43’ Březina – 8’ Kolísek
• Yellow cards: 56’ Fantiš, 58’ Černý – 88’ Behenský
• Referee: Orel – Novák, Ježek
• Attendance: 2,732
• FK VIAGEM Ústí nad Labem: Holý – Březina, Richter, Peterka (90. Diarra), Černý (67. Simons), Yameogo, Moulis (76. Kodad), Ullman (46. Fantiš), Kott, Franck (76. Bzura). Manager: Oulehla
• SK Slavia Prague B: Rezek – Barčot, Solarte, Savović (66. Palivec), Necid (73. Kohout), Szywala (66. Frolík), Behenský, Belžík, Cedergren (46. Potměšil), Rajnoha (89. Palaščák), Kolísek. Manager: Heidenreich