Slavia Thrash Sparta 3-0 at Letná in the 318th Prague Derby

Slavia thrashed Sparta 3-0 away at the Letná stadium in the 318th Prague derby. The win for the side from Eden was sealed by players who came on after the break or started in place of expected first-choice men — Slavia's first league win at their arch-rivals' ground in almost six years.

Surprising team selections

Before kickoff, both coaches raised eyebrows with their line-ups. Slavia boss Jindřich Trpišovský left both Mojmír Chytil, who has been scoring regularly this season, and Tomáš Chorý, back from suspension, on the bench, fielding a front three of Ouanda, Šturm and Provod instead. Captain Holeš was also absent from defence. On the Sparta side, coach Brian Priske handed a starting berth to French defender Mbe Soh, who had joined the club only days before the game.

The opener came quickly: in the 11th minute, following a Šturm cross and a poor clearance by Guddal, Novák poked the ball home — his fourth goal of the season, drawing him level with teammate Chytil in the scoring charts. Soon after, Sparta captain Karabec almost levelled from a free kick, but goalkeeper Marković made a fine save right by the post.

The substitution that decided the derby

At half-time, Trpišovský withdrew Novák, scorer of the opening goal, and brought on Moses — a change that proved decisive. Early in the second half, the Nigerian midfielder set up Šturm for a shooting chance, though it came to nothing. Then, in the 59th minute, the Moses-Šturm combination clicked: the Slovenian forward outran the Sparta defence and calmly beat goalkeeper Šurovčík for his first league goal in Slavia's red-and-white shirt.

Sparta pushed for an equaliser, but Guddal again failed to find the target with a header, while Marković used his shoulder to block Karabec's effort in a one-on-one. The hosts created a couple more chances — Guddal and Mbe Soh both lacked precision — but the score stayed put.

Ayaosi put the finishing tou

Source: prazsky.denik.cz