The lead before the second leg is small and the fight is still open
Klub

The lead before the second leg is small and the fight is still open

Redakce

The Mladá Boleslav team did not live up to the expectations in the first match of the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. Although they dominated most of the time, they were losing and had to work really hard to turn the tide. Their lead before the second leg is minimal.

The first half went without any goals, for Mladá Boleslav started carefully and ŠirokiBrijeg were downright timid. Mladá Boleslav had more chances to score, but always failed to get the ball to the goal.
Skalák shot and missed ŠirokiBrijeg's goal in the 3rd minute. Ďuriš shot without any preparation in the 10th minute after Bořil's pass, but Soldo, the goal keeper, reflexively hit the ball at the left pole and sent it out. Four minutes later, Bořil passed the ball and Hůlka's header was a bit too high. The French referee blew his whistle in the 16th minute and refused to acknowledge Skalák's goal because of offside. In the 26th minute Šísler collaborated with Ďuriš and the latter player's shot only earned the team a corner kick. In the 40th minute Šísler's high pass, nearly from the corner of the pitch, landed on Ščuk's head but ended only several centimetres outside the right top corner of Soldo's goal. ŠirokiBrijeg posed no threat to Hruška, the Mladá Boleslav goal keeper, despite their three free kicks.
The beginning of the second half sent a warning to Mladá Boleslav. As early as the 47th minute, Smejkal, Boleslav's centre fullback, missed the ball and Wagner, a Brazilian playing for the Bosnian team dashed unhindered towards Boleslav's goal; fortunately Hruška, the goal keeper, prevented him from scoring. Mladá Boleslav retaliated in the 50th minute when Šísler sent Ďuriš to a chance, but the latter, although facing the opponent goal keeper alone, chose a needlessly aggressive shot and missed the goal despite being less than 10 metres far from it. Boleslav were soon to receive a cruel punishment for this.
In the 51st minute ŠirokiBrijeg went for another break, but this time Zakarič sent a crosswise shot on the ground to the left pole of Hruška's goal and Boleslav were losing 0:1.
Boleslav had to step up their effort and pressed their opponent's defence lines; the game took place on ŠirokiBrijeg's side of the pitch, often around their penalty area. Ščuk failed to get Skalák's corner kick to the goal, though, and Rosa's pass from the left flank was wasted by Ďuriš.
In the 68th minute Boleslav were offered a free kick from twenty metres and Skalák's shot to the left pole equalised to 1:1.
In the 75th minute Hůlka, the centre fullback, missed the ball, but fortunately, ŠirokiBrijeg's striker played with his hand and the referee's whistle brought this dangerous situation to a halt.
In the 77th minute, Bartl, having just arrived at the pitch, got over the defenders on the right flank, passed the ball from the back line in front of the goal, where vigorous Ďuriš won the ground at the closer pole - 2:1.
Boleslav's further attempts at scoring, which would have raised the team's hopes before the second leg, were ineffective. Boleslav only played a series of corner kicks, but ŠirokiBrijeg's defence resisted. Five minutes before the end of the game, Smejkal saved Boleslav in the nick of time, when he successfully tackled Marič, who would otherwise have found his way to Hruška's goal open. Then, Skalák missed the goal, having chosen to shoot from an angle instead of passing the ball to a team mate.
FK Mladá Boleslav - line-up: Hruška - Bořil (76. Bartl), Smejkal, Hůlka, Rosa - Ščuk, Milla (69. Šultes) - Skalák, Šísler, Štohanzl (59. Vukadinovič) - Ďuriš.
NK ŠirokiBrijeg - line-up: Soldo - Čorič, Brekalo, Laštro, Barišič (81. Markovič) - Pehar (55. Ivankovič), Landeka - Zadro (55. Kožulj), Wagner, Zakarič - Marič.
Goals: 68. Skalák, 77. Ďuriš - 51. Zakarič
Yellow cards: Ďuriš, Šísler - Pehar, Barišič, Ivankovič
Referees: Said Ennjimi - Frédéric Cano, Cédric Schurra (all from France)
Spectators: 4127

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