Viktoria Plzeň Suffer Another Home Defeat, Coach Furious Over Defense

Football club Viktoria Plzeň suffered a 1:3 home defeat to Sigma Olomouc in the Czech league. After the match, Plzeň head coach Miroslav Kovač sharply criticized his team's defense, calling the situation dire and warning that "this simply cannot continue."

Three easy goals conceded

Sigma opened the scoring as early as the 16th minute: following a long pass, Ahmad Ghalimi beat two defenders and slotted the ball home. "We underestimated the situation — Sampson needs to do better. I don't like singling out individual players, but that was a terribly simple goal to concede, and it knocked us off balance," Kovač admitted.

Plzeň managed to equalize, but in the 41st minute Olomouc regained the lead when David Tkáč fired a powerful strike past the goalkeeper after Leonardo Borges had driven forward down the left flank. After a penalty was saved just before halftime, the visitors made it 3:1 in the 52nd minute, with Václav Sejk heading home a cross from Matej Hadaš.

Coach demands changes at the back

"Our defense is extremely fragile right now, and we clearly need to raise our level. We drop too deep too often, and I don't like that. We're not pressing our opponents as tightly as I'd like. This is an issue that worries me a great deal — it comes down to positioning details and distances between players. We're simply not in sync," the Plzeň coach said.

Assistant coach Dosek added: "It's very hard to talk about this right after the match. We need to go through everything in detail. We're giving the ball away too easily, and that's frustrating. We also need to react much faster after losing possession."

The club is already working to reinforce its defense — shortly before the match, talented Tobiáš Pališčák arrived from Žilina, along with Denis Vavro from Wolfsburg. The 30-year-old Slovak Vavro missed the Olomouc game due to suspension but will be available for the next round against Slavia. "He's an experienced fighter. We expect our organization and reliability to improve — that's exactly why he joined us," Kovač noted.

The goalkeeper under fire too

Olomouc scored three goals from just four shots on target. Although none of the goals were entirely unstoppable, the coach admitted that the team needs much more from goalkeeper Florian Vigele. "We already discussed this in the dressing room. Unfortunately, he's not in good form right now. I'm not saying he's doing anything wrong, but a goalkeeper needs to make the occasional save beyond what's expected. He's kept two clean sheets, and we hoped for better. But it's not just about him — it's a defensive issue for the whole team, starting from the top. Still, conceding three goals from just four shots is simply too many," Kovač said.

After five home matches this league season, Plzeň have managed just one win — against Zlín — along with draws against Zbrojovka Brno and Slovácko, and losses to Liberec and now Olomouc. "It's dismal. We've lost far too many points. We need to regroup quickly and relearn how to play at home the way Viktorka used to. For now, we'll have to bring points back from away games," the coach concluded.

Next week, on Thursday, Plzeň will kick off their Europa League league phase against Belgium's Union Saint-Gilloise, and in the next round of the Czech league they will travel to face Slavia at Eden on Sunday.

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Source: sport.cz