Our win goes to the fans
Kuchta scored the only goal of the 1st-round game at Zlín. It was his 5th goal against this opponent in the last 3 mutual games. “I want to help the team in every game. I am glad for the goals scored against Zlín, but I cannot say that they are my favourite opponent. It is not easy to play against them, under the new manager they work the ball well instead of playing long passes. It was a difficult start of the season for us,” Kuchta said.
Kuchta’s goal arrived after 70 minutes and it was a fabulous shot into the top left corner. “I was really tired, but I wanted to stay on the pitch just to help the team in similar situations. Osky [Oscar Dorley] set me up wonderfully and I just had to hit the ball properly. I knew that Dostál [Zlín goalkeeper] falls on the ground early, the shot was not really what I intended, but I managed to strike it just right and score an important goal,” Slavia forward continued.
The Red-Whites were missing several key players after the EURO 2020. “We are the best club in Czechia, the competition in the team always way and always will be. Some players from the national team had a day off, but they will join us next week and the competition will be even bigger, we will fight not to spend the next game on the stands. There is a strenuous programme ahead, next game at Teplice on Friday, then the 3rd Qualifying Round of the Champions League. We will have to make changes to the line-ups,” added the top goalscorer of the last league season.
After a long time, there were away fans allowed at the stadium, more than 600 fans came to support Slavia despite the long distance between Prague and Zlín. “We are glad they could be here. Slavia fans were everywhere, even on the main stand. We could hear them, and I want to thank them. It was them who pushed us to the goal. The win goes to them, they helped us a lot,” Kuchta added.
Slavia play their next game away at Teplice on Friday, 30 July, at 7 pm.