Czech journalists are surprised by how easy it was to beat Dnipro-1, who could do nothing even after Slavia was down to ten men. The local media are convinced that the Czech club should have no problem reaching the next round. And Dnipro-1 played equally poorly both in defence and attack, with no one to even shoot on goal.
Idnes
"An easy win even with ten men" - the journalist from the Idnes website is surprised by how easily Slavia beat Dnipro-1, even playing with ten men for the last 30 minutes. He believes that it is safe to say that the Czech club has guaranteed itself a place in the next round.
"Slavia defeated Ukrainian Dnipro-1 3-0 in the opening match of the third qualifying round of the Europa League and is on its way to reaching the next stage of qualification. Schranz scored two goals in the first half, with Norwegian midfielder Vallem, who made his debut, adding the third goal a minute after he came on the pitch.
Even the red card that Ogbu received in the 58th minute for a hard foul in the centre of the pitch did not disturb the calm flow of the match. He jumped up to try to play the ball and kicked his opponent dangerously between the chest and neck. Later, the coach would say that at that moment there was a short circuit. It seemed that the plan for the game was broken, but the opponent was unable to take advantage.
"Dnipro-1 took to the field without their top scorer, Dovbyk, who had been sold to Girona a few days earlier. The Ukrainian club played meaninglessly in attack and defence. In addition, there were huge holes in Dnipro-1's defence, through which Slavia players easily passed, creating moment after moment.
At times it seemed that the hosts did not even fully step on the gas. That they were playing sparingly because they felt that it was still difficult for the opponent to play even at this pace. Of course, Slavia were helped by an early goal, after which they created many other dangerous chances.
By the way, when the players took to the pitch, they symbolically wore yellow clothes with the words: "We are with you, Ukraine!". However, after the starting whistle blew, all solidarity faded into the background. The new pitch, which hadn't taken root well after the summer replacement, will undergo a complete reconstruction immediately after the match. The organisers at least tried to patch the holes in the pitch before the match, but every now and then one of the players would stop during the game to trample the pitch back into the holes, hoping that this would help avoid injuries."
iSport.cz
"A clean victory on an ugly pitch" - a journalist from iSport.cz describes how many people were concerned about the state of the pitch, which could have prevented the teams from playing good football, as was the case recently in the Czech championship match. Fortunately, the pitch has held up, and it is due to be replaced after the match against Dnipro-1.
"This was the main topic. Before the match with Dnipro-1, Slavia was more concerned about the state of the pitch than the team's performance. However, there was no repeat of the Sunday duel with Zlín. The seemingly unattractive areas of the pitch withstood the load much better, so we managed to say goodbye to the poor quality surface and win a clean 3-0 victory. Now the stadium will host the Ball Lightning event, during which the sad situation with the lawn will be quickly rectified.
So the work on replacing the lawn will start tomorrow morning. The old lawn will be removed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The new one will be laid on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The special lawn is being ordered from Germany. According to the supplier, it will be safe to play on the fourth day after the work is completed.
As for the game, everything went well for Slavia. A quick goal helped control the situation on the pitch. And the opponent played so poorly that he could not, in fact, create a single dangerous moment, despite having a numerical advantage for 30 minutes.
In general, we showed good team and individual play at all stages of the matches. We approached the match a little cautiously, but after the first goal we put in a strong performance. We could have scored more goals, but we are generally satisfied with the result," said Slavia's coach after the match.
"The most surprising thing is that playing with ten men, the Czech club could really score more goals. And it would have been reasonable. It is rare that after a 3-0 victory there is a feeling of incompleteness. But this is exactly the case. "Slavia could have simply destroyed the opponent, but 'only' 3-0 is also a great result."
Aktualne.cz
"Slavia improved the situation by playing in the minority," the Aktualne.cz journalist is surprised that the Czech club had the advantage in the game even after Ogbu was sent off. He also believes that Slavia is as close as possible to reaching the play-offs, as Dnipro-1 does not look like a team that can defeat Slavia in the return leg.
"Slavia players can be congratulated on a clean and confident home victory over Dnipro-1 with a score of 3-0 in the opening match of the 3rd qualifying round. The Czech players are much closer to reaching the play-off round, which will decide whether Slavia will be able to reach the group stage. Interestingly, to do so, they will have to beat another Ukrainian team, Zorya.
In the clash between the two vice-champions of their respective countries, the Prague team actually decided everything in the first half, in which Ivan Schrantz scored twice. In the 58th minute, Ogbu received a red card, but despite this, Slavia continued to play better and create dangerous moments, while the Ukrainians seemed unable to recover after a quick goal at the beginning of the game. When substitute Konrad Vallem scored in the 81st minute, in his debut match for Slavia, it became clear that the Ukrainians were simply not strong enough to put up a decent fight. After the match, Dnipro-1's coach complained about the difficult journey and fatigue, but for some reason it seems that this is not the main problem for the Ukrainian team."
Anton Prokopov
