Kolář and Masopust on Cluj
21.8.2019, Klub
Goalkeeper Ondřej Kolář and the only goalscorer Lukáš Masopust on UCL play-off first leg in Cluj.
Kolář: My first ever saved penalty
In the second half CFR Cluj set the pace and Slavia goalkeeper Ondřej Kolář became the other hero saving Omrani’s penalty on 79th minute. Omrani´s left-footed strike went to his left and Kolář guessed the right way to make a save.
“I will surely remember this moment, because it was the first penalty save I’ve made in my life. I hope we will make it, play well in the second leg and qualify. We all feel the qualification is close, but we must know that it’s just a half-time. The second leg can end up with any resut, ” Kolář says.
“I studied Omrani’s penalties a lot and I knew he would wait till the last moment for me to jump somewhere. I didn’t give him much chance and I guessed the right way. It’s good that we won 1-0 away and that we haven’t conceded, but we need to score in the home game as well and fight for the qualification,” Slavia goalkeeper added.
Masopust: No one believed I could score from the signal
The most important moment of the first leg came on 28th minute. Stanciu´s delivery found Masopust on the brink of the box and he hit it first time past the keeper. Surely one of the most important goals in the 26-year old midfielder’s career.
“It was a hard game, we dominated in the first half, Cluj in the second. We are glad we made it ad it’s a good step towards the second leg. We will see how the home game will turn out, but we should capitalise on the result from Cluj,” Masopust says.
“After the opening half we hoped for bigger goal difference, but we must accept what we have. The second half was kid of a warning for us. We must increase our effectivity, we can’t be passive as in the second half,” Slavia midfielder continued.
“I am glad for the goal, but as we say, it doesn’t matter who scored. The win is the most important thing. The goal has a story. We practised this during our training, and I couldn’t hit the target. No one believed me except of assistant coach Jarda Köstl. Shortly before the game I spoke to Tomáš Souček who told me to hit it side foot instead of striking the ball with the instep. So, I’ve tried it and it did work out,” Masopust said about his goal.
