"The opponent stripped us bare": Artis coach on the defeat in the club's Czech league debut

Football club Artis Líšeň lost their historic debut match in the Czech top flight at home 2:4, despite twice equalising in the first half. Head coach Roman Nadvorník shared his thoughts on the result.

"The match stripped us bare — it became clear just how poorly we moved in the final twenty metres in front of our own goal, and how badly we dealt with the opponent. That's the big difference between the first and second divisions: if you give players space at the top level, they will punish you. We were weak defensively," the coach admitted.

For almost sixty minutes, Nadvorník's side kept their hopes of a point alive, but the visitors struck twice between the 65th and 72nd minutes, pulling two goals clear and controlling the game from then on.

"There were two crude mistakes — both times, right after we equalised, we conceded almost immediately. That's not acceptable. The pressure of being a newcomer to the league mainly showed in the first twenty minutes — we were a bit tense, unsure what to expect. We need to be sharper defensively," said the coach, who fielded eight summer signings in his starting lineup.

According to him, the heavily revamped squad simply needs time to gel. "Give us another couple of weeks so the players can build up their automatic understanding of each other. We haven't had that many training sessions or gatherings together yet. Preparation wasn't easy, but things will keep improving," Nadvorník added.

One bright spot for the coach was that top scorer Kvadri Adediran carried his second-division form into the top flight: in the first half he equalised to 1:1 with a precise strike off the crossbar, and shortly after the break he tapped into an empty net to make it 2:2. Both goals were assisted by winger Papalele from Cape Verde, who joined the club over the summer.

"It's not just about those two — all four attacking players (including Alegue and Ndiaye) have quality and finish well," Nadvorník said, praising the attacking quartet of the newly promoted Brno club.

It was precisely this attacking football that got the usually calm crowd on Srbská Street on their feet — more than three thousand spectators turned out, a notably high figure for a club still building up a broad fan base.

"For the whole of Líšeň, this was a historic moment — the first of its kind in the club's 102-year history. People will be talking about this match for a long time. We definitely felt how special the occasion was and wanted to rise to it. The season is just getting started, and I believe we'll keep improving," Nadvorník concluded.

Read also: Brno: what to see and where to go

Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz