Slavist football coach Jindřich Trpišovský described today’s Prague derby at Sparta as one of the best Czech league matches he has experienced in recent times. The home coach, Brian Priske, described the match as a “football advertisement”.
After a thrilling 27th-round hit and a 3:3 draw, Jindřich Trpišovský considered the home team’s equalizing goal conceded at the end of the third minute of setup to be the only trick. But he was very satisfied with the performance of his team, marked by the virus and absences.
“For me, it was a great match in every way. Six goals were scored, there were a lot of tense and interesting moments on both sides, a great atmosphere. I think it was great football. Both teams showed great commitment, enormous effort and gave it their all, it was to watch it. The second half reminded me of matches from England, it was torn, it was up and down. I consider the match to be the best that I have experienced in the league recently,” said Trpišovský at the press conference.
“From a match like this, we will mainly remember the football, the goals, performances, actions are in the first place. Emotions are part of it, we want it, but it must be in some acceptable mode. Both teams showed that the positives should prevail – performance, goals, the referee. I don’t say that often, especially in the first half, but a great referee contributed to that with a superb performance,” noted the 47-year-old coach.
His wards led 2:0 and then 3:2 at Letné, but they did not keep the lead and stopper Aiham Ousou scored an own goal in the third minute of regulation.
“Of course, the first goal helped us. Then we managed to add a goal to make it 2:0. However, after the challenge, Sparta unfortunately got into a position where we committed a foul in the goal area and a contact goal came, followed by a goal to make it 2:2. Although some players they wanted to make substitutions, we reacted brilliantly. Some players held us, for example Oscar and Ogbu increased their activity even more. Others also joined in, we had two promising chances, we scored a goal to make it 3:2. But in the end we did not catch the run-up after such a cross ball and we scored our own goal. That’s probably the only highlight of this match,” said Trpišovský.
His team was affected by a virus, due to which five players did not start, and another three were ruled out by injury. Slavia had problems mainly with how to fold the midfield.
“The worst was two days ago, when we were afraid that someone else would drop out. When someone coughed, we were in a panic, if it wasn’t another symptom. But from some Thursday afternoon, we kept the lineup, which then started, we hoped that no one it won’t fall out,” recounted Trpišovský.
“The boys who played did a great job. God knows how it would have turned out if we had started with a full squad. But players who have great quality came in and they should have been able to do it. I am very happy especially with the players who started in the beginning of the match They performed to the limit,” added the former coach of Liberec and Žižkov.
His charges remained in second place after the derby three rounds before the end of the regular season of the competition, with a two-point loss to leaders Sparta.
“The first thing is that we now have more favorable matches against each other. We’ll see if it helps. Otherwise, nothing has changed, the points situation has remained the same. It’s still about contact. It will be a fight for every goal and result, which was shown now , two great teams ran into each other. We have to perform as well as we do here in order to score more points,” Trpišovský said.
Priske: It was amazing to watch
According to Sparta coach Brian Priske, the derby was an advertisement for football and showed the character of his players. The 45-year-old Dane believes that his charges have the right mentality needed to win trophies. In the home match of the 27th round of the first league, Letenští lost 0:2 and 2:3, but in the third minute of the final set, they equalized at the final 3:3.
Priske hopes that Sparta has learned more than Slavia in the two league derbies so far in the season and that the next two matches between them will be played according to their notes.
“I think it was an advertisement for football. Whether you were in the stands or in front of the TV, it was an amazing game to watch. It offered a lot of intensity, personal battles, decent chances, nice goals, a lot of excitement and goals at the end. I think a lot of people in the Czech Republic enjoyed the match,” said Priske at the press conference.
Sparta equalized in regulation after an own goal by Aiham Ousou. “I don’t consider it a victory, but it was definitely an important equalizing goal and a point. We made it a bit complicated by losing 0-2. We showed a great mentality by coming back into the game before Slavia got into management,” said the native of Horsens.
“When you equalize practically in the last seconds, you are very happy with the point. Especially it shows the character of the team. The mentality in the team is very strong and there is a lot of belief in it. This is a big signal that we have the right mentality that is needed to win trophies,” noted the former coach of Midtjylland or Antwerp.
He was very happy with his players. “They improved during the match. I think that both from a team and individual point of view, we learned more than Slavia in the two derbies. I am sure that the next two derbies will be played according to our standards,” said the former Genk player, Portsmouth, Brugge or the Danish national team.
In October’s league derby against Slavia, his team suffered a 0-4 debacle, since then they have not lost 17 competitive matches in a row. They will face their old rival again on May 3 in the final of the domestic cup at Letná and then in the extension group for the title. Thanks to today’s draw, Sparta continues to lead the table ahead of Slavia by two points.
“I hope that we will keep the first place until the 35th round. But I am not speculating about the position, but about the matches. Now we will start focusing on Slovácko. We all know the numbers and the schedule of matches. In the 35th round you want to be in the lead, but until then we have to gradually focus on individual matches and not look too far ahead,” said Priske.
