"My Heart Stopped": Kozel on Jablonec's Crazy Finish Against Varaždin

Jablonec have advanced to the third qualifying round of the Conference League after beating Croatia's Varaždin 2:0 in the return leg, progressing on aggregate. The tie had a dramatic finish in the closing minutes: a Croatian goal at the Střelnice stadium was ruled out for offside — the assistant referee's flag went up, and VAR is not used at this stage of the competition.

The home fans were already bracing to celebrate when substitute Gregor Šikošek raced to the far post and headed the ball past goalkeeper Jan Hanuš. However, the ball had first grazed the head of one of the Croatian forward's teammates, which triggered the offside call. "I felt such relief when that flag went up. There was no VAR, so nobody could overturn the decision," said Jablonec head coach David Kozel.

The coach was pleased overall with his side's performance. In the first half the Czechs clawed back the goal they'd conceded in the first leg in Varaždin (a 0:3 defeat), and shortly after the break defender Dušan Pavlović scored the winner that sealed their spot in the next round. "We got what we came for. Looking at both games, I think we earned this progression. In the return leg we allowed the opponent just one dangerous moment, which Hanuš saved early on," Kozel noted.

The coach singled out praise for two of the club's summer signings, who were involved in both goals. Defender Jiří Sláma provided assists in both attacks, while Serbian centre-back Pavlović scored the decisive goal. "I liked both of them. With Sláma, I'd like him to be able to last the full match rather than just sixty minutes. And Pavlović? He's only been here two weeks, including the move itself, but he's played two tough matches without a single mistake. Now he's added the winning goal on top of that," the coach emphasized.

Kozel also highlighted the team's effectiveness from set pieces — all four goals in the tie against Varaždin came from dead-ball situations. "And Varaždin are arguably the toughest opponent we've faced recently. We know set pieces are our strength. We know how to deliver them and position ourselves well — we put a lot of work into that," the coach explained.

Jablonec are highly likely to face Latvia's RFS (Riga) in the third qualifying round, after RFS thrashed Iceland's Vestri 4:1 in the first leg (the return match has yet to be played). "I watched their first match — they were the dominant side. They've got a lot of fast, dark-skinned players. We'll see," Kozel added.

Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz