Slavia advance to the Round of 16 in the MOL Cup

Just a few days after the league match, Slavia marched on the pitch again to play against FK Dukla Prague in the MOL Cup. Manager Jindřich Trpišovský made a number of changes and gave an opportunity to less used players. Jan Stejskal made his debut in goal as well as Taras Kacharaba who played as centre-back alongside David Hovorka. Lukáš Masopust returned to right-back position and Oscar Dorley started on the left side. Tomáš Holeš and Jakub Hromada played as defensive midfielders. The attacking midfield trio was composed of Mick van Buren, Michal Beran, who made his first start in the starting eleven, and Ondřej Lingr. Stanislav Tecl started the game up front.

The game started slowly. For the first fifteen minutes we could not see any goal threatening chances and the match was mostly played in the middle of the field. In the 17th minute, Slavia was playing in a corner which was warded off by Doumbia to Oscar Dorley. He passed the ball to the left wing to Ondřej Lingr who crossed it back into the penalty area. The cross found David Hovorka perfectly and he headed it into the net from close range!

After the first goal of the game, Slavia was putting more pressure on their opponents. Another big chance came in the 28th minute. Lukáš Masopust dribbled past three players in his own half, sent a trough ball to Tecl who passed it to the edge of the box to Hromada. He was one on one with the goalkeeper, took the shot but Filip Rada made a great save to deflect it away from goal.

Stanislav Tecl was fouled at the edge of the box in the 33rd minute so Slavia had the advantage of a free kick. Ondřej Lingr stepped up, took the shot and sent the ball over the wall right under the crossbar to make it 2-0!

In the 42nd minute, Slavia was pressing high up the pitch which led to Doumbia loosing the ball on the right wing. Hromada took it, passed it to Tecl who was right on the edge of the box. Tecl sent a trough ball to the box back to Hromada who shot to the near post and beat Rada to make it 3-0!

Dukla started the second half actively and score in the 53rd minute. Chlumecký took the ball trough the left wing, passed it in front of the penalty area to Buchvaldek. He went past Kacharaba, sent the ball to the middle of the box to Fábry who shot with a volley to the far post and lowered Slavia’s lead.

The match slowed down again after Dukla’s goal and we could not see any real chances. The next 30 minutes were mostly played in the middle of the field. We could also see a lot of substitutions made from both sides. Another bigger chance came in the 87th minute, when Alexander Bah crossed the ball to the middle of the box to Petar Musa who headed it just over the crossbar.

In the end, Peter Olayinka added fourth goal for Slavia. Alexander Bah passed the ball to him to the penalty area, Olayinka lost it but it was recovered by Mick van Buren. He sent it back to Olayinka who took a shot from the middle of the box to the far post to make it 4-1. The final whistle came right after the last goal.

Slavia won the game and advanced into the last sixteen of the MOL Cup. The Red-whites will play again on 23rd January in the FORTUNA:LIGA against Karviná.