Jablonec hold Brighton to a 0:0 draw: coach Kozel reacts

Jablonec drew 0:0 with England’s Brighton in a European tournament match. According to coach Kozel, the result will go down in club history, and in his own career it ranks highest. The game was also his 100th on the Jablonec bench.

A draw the coach is proud of

Kozel admitted that early on the team barely saw the ball, but defended very well and gradually got used to the opponent’s tempo. In the second half Jablonec had almost three clear-cut chances. The coach even wondered whether it was a pity they had not won, but added that a point must be accepted with humility.

He noted that Brighton are not just an English Premier League club but one of the dark horses of the tournament, who have recently been in great form and scoring plenty of goals. Kozel is not sure Czech teams have picked up points against English sides lately. He did not realize right away that it was his milestone game: in earlier jubilee matches he had always drawn Slavia and lost 0:3.

Tactics, a row over socks, and the goalkeeper

Brighton coach Fabian Hürzeler admitted that Jablonec surprised him with a five-man defense. Kozel joked that the opponent had probably believed the 4-2-3-1 formation on the team sheet. In recent matches the team had played with four at the back, but last season it often used three center-backs. With four defenders there would have been more open space, and it would have been harder for Jablonec.

Kozel was surprised that a strong opponent allowed so many chances late on: after a substitution, a fresh Vušković came on, who in the coach’s view could not keep up with Vach Chanturishvili and Dominik Holly. In the second half Kozel was visibly nervous about the substitution of Holly: the player was twice denied entry to the pitch, first because he lacked a green tape on his ankle to hide a white sock, then because of his shin pads. The change dragged on for two or three minutes. Had Jablonec conceded, the player would have faced a fine, but Holly got on and brought the game to life.

The coach singled out goalkeeper Jan Hanuš for praise. In previous matches against Freiburg and Plzeň he had let in soft goals, but this time he played with confidence: “today he was our rock”. Toward the end of the match, Kozel said, he sensed success was near and urged the fans to help the team.

The coach did not allow any celebrations after the match: in the league Jablonec recently lost at home to Plzeň, and now travel to Hradec Králové for a difficult game. Kozel recalled that after reaching the group stage the team had already relaxed and failed to cope with the match in Teplice.

Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz