Likely win lost in two minutes
A shootout on a cold Sunday evening by the Nisa River ended with shared points which delighted the Liberec players as they overcame a two-goal deficit in the second half. Boleslav were better than the North Bohemians, but they recklessly threw away a match which had started excellently. Despite the fact they remain in second position in the league standings, the gap between Mladá Boleslav and the leading Slavia Prague, was extended by two points. The anger of the players at the elementary mistakes made in defensive was too late and a useless reaction, and did not stop the points slipping through their fingers.
Boleslav’s Papadopulos had the first scoring chance of the game after perfectly taking a pass from Procházka in the penalty area but his left footed shot hit the right-hand post of the Liberec goal. The Boleslav attacks continued to be more dangerous than those of the Liberec players.
However, a centred pass by Papoušek from the right-hand side in the 12th minute found an unmarked Kerič in the Boleslav penalty area, and he headed the ball past Miller– 1:0.
The Boleslav players responded within five minutes. Sylvestre switched the play to Mendy across the width of the pitch, who passed it to Kalina and his shot deflected off a Liberec defender and flew into the net beyond the helpless Hauzr – 1:1.
Pecka rushed into the Liberec penalty area in the 26th minute after a pass from Papadopulos, and Gebreselassie pulled him down. Referee Franěk was well positioned to see the foul and pointed to the spot without hesitation. However Rajnoch, the Boleslav skipper, blasted it over the crossbar of Hauzr’s goal.
Boleslav responded to the miss well and Mach’s low cross from the left-hand side found Papadopulos who directed his shot inside the left upright past the unsuccessful stretch of the Liberec goalkeeper to ensure Boleslav went to the break in front – 1:2.
The second half started with the Boleslav players seeming to be a more confident and compact team.
Mendy was substituted in the 67th minute for Kysela who came on and had an immediate impact five minutes later. Sylvestre found Papadopulos at the edge of the penalty area, who held up the ball well before finding the run of Kysela as he rushed into the box to fire his low drive past Hauzr – 1:3.
Those who didn’t see the match in Teplice could assume naively that the points had already been decided, but the Boleslav players again demonstrated that finishing a match might be a weak point. They had defended nervously but managed to hold on for a tight win on that occasion, but on the Liberec pitch their advantage was thrown away in only two minutes.
Frejlach was on hand to punish a series of failed clearances by the Boleslav defence in the 75th minute – 2:3. Within two minutes Gebreselassie had completed the devastation, smashing his shot across Miller’s goal – 3:3.
In the last minute of the game a wasted Liberec corner kick fell to Sylvestre who started a promising attack by finding Kysela with an excellent pass but Holeňák brought him down a metre outside the Liberec penalty area as he raced towards the keeper. To everyone’s surprise the referee Franěk failed to award a free kick, let alone send the defender off, and somewhat hastily and cynically blew his whistle to end the match.
Line-up of FK Mladá Boleslav: Miller – Kalina, Janíček, Procházka, Mach – Mendy (67. Kysela), Sylvestre, Rajnoch, Poláček – Papadopulos, Pecka (79. Řezníček).
Line-up of FC Slovan Liberec: Hauzr – Gebreselassie, Holeňák, Košťál, Polák – Papoušek (74. Nezmar), Bílek, Dort (60. Frejlach), Dočkal – Kerič, Smetana (45. Blažek).
