Sparta Prague beat Slovácko 5-1 as Brunes scores four goals in league

Prague’s Sparta won their home match in round 12 of the Czech first league against Slovácko by 5-1. Norwegian striker Brunes scored four, and Irving added another. Sparta, with 22 points, remain second and trail leaders Slavia by six points.

A hat-trick in 23 minutes

The win was Sparta’s first after three games without one in all competitions: on Thursday the club lost 1-0 in the Europa League away at Olympiacos of Piraeus. Still, the team has taken 13 points from its last five league matches.

The visitors started actively but conceded in the 14th minute: captain Vydra sent Brunes through, and he shot between the legs of goalkeeper Heča. It was the Norwegian’s second goal in 13 matches at his new club. The hosts then dominated. In the 25th minute Vydra took the ball off Sosseh and went one-on-one, but the goalkeeper, a former Sparta player, made the save. In the 31st minute Brunes scored a second after a pass from Hoever, and in the 37th, after a pass into the box from Irving, he completed his hat-trick, this time with his left foot into the far corner. It is the first hat-trick of the current first-league season.

Second half: Irving, Kostadinov and Brunes again

Soon after the break Irving was given too much space on the edge of the box and scored his third goal of the season with a technical shot. Vydra missed two more big chances. In the 59th minute the visitors did respond: Juroška broke down the left wing, and Kostadinov, who had come on only 52 seconds earlier, finished off a move between substitutes. The North Macedonian defensive midfielder scored his first goal in the Czech league.

In the 71st minute Brunes extended the lead to four goals again, turning and finishing a rebound. It was the third time he had scored four in a match; before, he had done it only early in his career in Norway’s third and fourth leagues. In the 80th minute he was replaced by Vojta, who could have ended his wait for a first Sparta goal but missed the target one-on-one against Heča.

The numbers of the night

Sparta scored five goals in a top-flight match for the first time since March, when they also beat Slovácko 5-2. The club has won at home in the league five times, and its only dropped points at Letná came in August, in the derby against Slavia. Sparta have now taken points against Slovácko in 11 matches in a row. The team from Uherské Hradiště remained 15th with seven points and also lost 5-1 away at Slavia at the start of the season. The match was watched by 15,397 spectators.

Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz