How did the Czech national team do against Ronaldo? They were looking for a draw, but the West Ham legend failed

They were close. Vladimír Coufal and Tomáš Souček had it out with Manchester United in the Premier League, which also featured star Cristiano Ronaldo. How did they fare in a dramatic match? Coufal received praise from England and the Czech Republic!

The Hammers took the lead at the London Stadium thanks to a lucky cross from Benrahma. But 5 minutes later, in the 35th minute, the unstoppable Ronaldo struck! He ran onto a centred ball and hit goalkeeper Fabianski from close range, only for the ball to bounce back to his feet and he calmly slotted the ball into the net.

However, the biggest drama took place at the very end. The substitute Lingard cleared the crossbar in the 89th minute and it seemed that he would finally execute his former employer, where he had been a guest in the spring. But in the 94th minute, Red Devils left-back Luke Shaw made a handball in the penalty area.

Manager David Moyes sent club legend Mark Noble onto the field for the only penalty, but that was not a good move. David De Gea’s shot attempt was defused by Noble and the visitors, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, eventually took all 3 points.

Interestingly, the legendary Portuguese broke another record in the match. Ronaldo has already scored in 66 different stadiums in the top 5 European leagues. This is the highest number ever since this statistic has been counted. The second highest number is held by Zlatan Ibrahimovic (64).

Vladimir Coufal’s performance

the 29-year-old right-back had a very difficult time. The Red Devils played more through the flanks than the midfield in the match and we don’t need to talk about the offensive power of Manchester United’s players. Still, Coufal stood up to the challenge, with the prestigious WhoScored giving him a 6.24 rating.

In the match, he had 63 touches of the ball, a near 76% pass success rate and won one header. He created one key pass and also scored two successful dribbles. However, he didn’t score a single successful takeaway in the match, which would have led to a ball gain for West Ham.

Despite the unfavourable result, the Czech international received praise from the home fans this time as well.

“Cufe, didn’t you ask Ronaldo if he needed it, his theatrics? Such a player and this…Otherwise another in a series of high level performances, points next time! Hang in there, boys!” wrote a fan on Twitter.

“Cufe, I’m so happy you’re living this dream… a guy who few would have believed a few years ago has worked his way up to the footballing elite with his honesty and attitude. I’m proud of you,” another supporter praised Coufal.

“The game is over, you can take Ronaldo out of your pocket,” wrote an English fan of the Hammers.

Tomas Soucek’s performance

The Czech midfielder received the highest rating of the Hammers midfield in the match. He received a WhoScored rating of 6.87 for his performance.

He had 69 touches of the ball, an 81% pass success rate, produced two shot attempts and won two header duels. As far as defensive work goes, he won the ball back into his team’s possession 5 times in the scrum. This is the highest number ever of any player in the match.

Source: WhoScored, Vladimir Coufal