Soucek left Leeds without a goal. How did the Czech national team do against Marcel Bielsa’s team?

West Ham won 2-1 at Elland Road and are still near the top of the table. Tomas Soucek was on hand for the game but didn’t score. He did put the ball in the net once, but the goal was called back by VAR. How did the Czech national team do in the match?

Manager David Moyes fielded experienced and well-coordinated players in the starting line-up. This means that only Vladimír Coufal and Tomáš Souček (from the Czech national team) started the match.

Alex King is still waiting for his Premier League debut. However, he showed in the English League Cup match that he is ready for the next big test.

The Hammers entered the match better, but two great chances were defused by the great goalkeeper Meslier. Then the home team took over! Dallas’ first good attempt was denied by Fabianski. The next shot from Brazilian Raphinha was short and the home team took the lead.

Leeds’ dominance continued and Raphinha could have added a second goal but he hit the bar. West Ham equalised in the second act. After a standard situation, Soucek headed the ball into an empty net, only for his goal to be preceded by a foul by Antonio on goalkeeper Meslier.

The Czech midfielder got his chance a few minutes later, after a corner kick he headed between the three Leeds posts, but Meslier made a brilliant save and defused the Czech’s header. A few minutes later, West Ham were very lucky, Klich had a good chance but just missed the target.

The Hammers’ equaliser came after a double run and a rebound off the back of Firpo. A very unfortunate own goal for Leeds, there was nothing goalkeeper Meslier could do about it. And to add to Leeds’ bad luck, in the 90th minute, the spiky striker Antonio showed his immense quality by going over a defender and then shooting past Meslier. West Ham and the Czech national team take full points from Elland Road!

Performances by Vladimir Coufal and Tomáš Souček

Vladimír Coufal was the best ever member of West Ham’s defence according to the prestigious WhoScored server, getting a rating of 7.01. He had 60 touches of the ball during the game, his passing success rate was 83%.

He also scored 3 key passes from which West Ham could threaten the opponent’s goal, made one successful dribble, won one header and was fouled twice. In terms of defensive duties, he won the ball once for the Hammers in a personal duel and blocked two Leeds shots.

Tomas Soucek could have been one of the stars of the game, but the shooting joy didn’t come, which is why the grade from WhoScored isn’t that great. 6.3 is still slightly above average, however, the national captain was usually rated higher last season.

Soucek had 42 touches of the ball in the game, his passing success rate was at a nice 86% and he won 4 header duels (the most of any WHU player).

Offensively, the stats gave him one shot attempt, which was a header saved by Meslier. In the defensive phase of the game, Soucek managed to gain possession of one ball after a personal duel and successfully intercepted an opponent’s pass once.

Sources