Pardubice thwart Chytil´s hat-trick in eight minutes

Slavia faced the twelfth-ranked team in the league with four changes in the lineup compared to the last duel in Karvina. Tijani and van Buren returned to the starting eleven along with Zafeiris, and in defense, there was a switch of the Tomases, with Holeš replaced by Vlček.

Even before the opening whistle, there were moments of remembrance, congratulations, and appreciation. A minute of applause honored the recently deceased defender Miroslav Pauřík, congratulations for birthday were given to Radek Černý and Luboš Kubík, and a financial donation was made to the organization Fuck Cancer, which supports cancer patients.

The home team threatened the goal early on, with captain Ševčík taking a corner kick after four minutes. His cross was headed by van Buren at the back post, but his attempt was comfortably saved by goalkeeper Budinský.

In the 18th minute, the packed Fortuna Arena was entertained by Christos Zafeiris' dribble in the penalty area, followed by a shot by Tijani, but his attempt was pushed wide by the guests' goalkeeper.

The 30th minute brought more excitement when Wallem sent a long cross into the box, where Tijani made a spectacular leap, but his attempt went over the bar. Shortly after, Pardubice had their first shot when Kissiedou fired from the left side after a quick counter-attack, but Mandous caught his attempt.

The most promising action of the first half started from Slavia's goalkeeper when Zafeiris found Wallem with a long pass. Wallem then passed through Chlumecký in the box and shot low, but Budinský saved it.

Towards the end of the half, after Slavia's ninth corner, Tijani rose highest at the back post, but his powerful header went over. Despite Slavia's dominance, both teams went into halftime with a goalless draw.

Christos Zafeiris did not return for the second half due to an injury sustained from Hlavatý's foul at the end of the first half, and he was replaced by Lukáš Provod. Mojmír Chytil also entered the field, replacing Mick van Buren.

Chytil was immediately involved in a fast counter-attack, delivering a ball to Tijani in the box, but Tijani lost his speed and decided to shoot, which was well anticipated by Budinský.

Five minutes into the second half, Ogbu had a dangerous header from Ševčík's corner, but the Pardubice goalkeeper stopped his attempt. Another five minutes later, the ball floated to Chytil in the box, but from close range, he failed to beat the onrushing Bačkovský.

In the 63rd minute, Slavia made two more substitutions, with Masopust and Zmrzlý replacing Wallem and Diouf, respectively. Three minutes later, Eden finally saw a goal, thanks to the substitutes. Masopust received the ball on the right side from Douděra, crossed it in front of the goal, and surprisingly unmarked, Mojmír Chytil headed the ball into the net. 1-0.

Just seven minutes later, Chytil scored his second goal of the game, sliding in a rebound from a shot by Provod to extend the lead to 2-0. And within two more minutes, Chytil completed his hat-trick, firing past the goalkeeper after a beautiful pass from Provod from the left side to make it 3-0.

With three goals in the span of eight minutes, Chytil equaled a thirty-year-old record in the Czech top flight – the same short period of time it took for Horst Siegl to score a hat-trick in 1994.

With a comfortable three-goal lead, Slavia controlled the rest of the match and secured the three points without much trouble. In the following weeks, they face a challenging schedule, with a domestic cup Derby against Sparta on Wednesday, February 28, an away league Derby on Sunday, March 3, and the following week, the first leg of the UEFA Europa League round of 16 in Milan.