Pilsen takes a promising lead into the rematch, Bucha decides after penalties

Viktoria Plzeň entered the third round of the Champions League with a match in Chisinau, where they challenged home side Sheriff Tiraspol. The Westerners put in a solid performance in Moldova, taking home a promising 2-1 result. Tomáš Chorý scored for Plzeň from a penalty and Pavel Bucha scored with a header.

The home side started the match better, but a shot by Albanian Lushkja had to be saved by Stanek. After seven minutes, the Plzeň team had their first shot on goal, but Pavel Bucha was stopped by Tiraspol goalkeeper Razak Abalora. Both teams had dangerous shooting attempts early on.

Luděk Pernica had a goal in the 11th minute, but unfortunately his header went straight into the arms of the Sheriff goalkeeper. In general, both teams were interested in playing football for the first quarter of an hour. The spectators were certainly not bored. Lushkya shot just outside the box again on the home side and Kopic on the away side.

The first twenty minutes ended with a lot of pressure from Viktoria, who threatened from play and from standard chances. Despite the fact that the number of shots on goal was increasing, even after half an hour there were two zeros on the scoreboard. In the 35th minute, however, Jindřich Staněk had to face a penalty after an unfortunate handball by Jan Sýkora. After VAR confirmation, Rasheed Akanbi took the penalty and the 23-year-old Nigerian converted without any problems.

A ripple in the right corner of the net gave Sheriff the lead. But he had resisted the Czech team’s onslaught for a long time before that. Pilsen wanted to equalise immediately and went on the attack right from the kick-off. Milan Havel was brought down by the home goalkeeper and a second penalty within five minutes was awarded.

And Tomas Chorý scored. Three minutes before the end of the half it was 1:1, with neither goal coming from play. Chorý had a great chance in injury time, but the score did not change. After an active 45 minutes, both teams went to the booths amicably.

In the second half, the first scoring opportunity was awaited until the 51st minute. Brazilian Penambuco forced Stanek into three saves in the space of two minutes. On the first of the three attempts, the Pilsen goalkeeper had to make a great save.

And after the initial pressure from the Moldovans, Viktoria came to the fore. And immediately it was a goal for 2:1. Jhon Mosquera took the ball at the left corner flag, centred it and Pavel Bucha headed the ball in after Tomas Chorý’s header. Michal Bílek’s charges were closer to advancing.

At the turn of the first and second hour Kalvach had an interesting shot from a direct kick, Abalora was ready. Despite the substitutions on both sides, great, albeit often very hard, football was still played. Kyabou was asking for a red card, but his kick into the tricky spots of René Dědič did not result in a sending off.

The last minutes were in the spirit of Tiraspol on the ball. But the Moldovan champion didn’t get any major chances, so it was a great result in the form of a 2-1 win. The team that beat Real Madrid last year fell at home to the Czech champion this year.

The rematch is scheduled for Tuesday 9 August in Štruncové sady at 7 pm. And the Victorians will go into it with a promising result that could see them qualify for the fourth round of the Champions League. Moreover, coach Bílek’s charges would be assured of at least Europa League

Source: UEFA