The Knights fired blindly, and the fourteen thousand fans were mainly Sparta
“I think it was the details that made the decision. The first two periods were balanced, maybe we were even better in the second, but we don’t score goals. We need more pressure around the goal. Unfortunately, we also had few overpowers with which we could help ourselves,” said the disappointed Knights forward Matěj Beran shortly after the match.
He also rated a great visit, thousands of people came mainly to see the ageless Jaromír Jágr. The 50-year-old played excellently again, he likes to fight in the O2 arena. He could have scored goals, but in the first part Kubík didn’t put a pass to him, in the second he missed with a backhand and after his action Bláha hit the stick. “You can see for yourself what he is showing there. Such a visit came mainly to him and he plays great in front of her. It’s just a shame that we go home with zero,” Matěj Beran regretted.
The Knights can regret the opening two thirds. The home team sometimes let the pressure go, but they played completely differently than at Hané and they also threatened in front. Babka was the biggest threat until the first break, but Procházka, who got him a chance, made an unnecessary mistake right after. And when she plays the power play in this Sparta game against Kladno, she succeeds – I don’t even have to stand a chance when she has already given Kladno six goals like this. At first, she had a handle when Plekance escaped and Kubík finished, but then E. Thorell shot, and as it didn’t seem dangerous, it was 1:0.
The second act was similar with the only difference, this time Sparta did not use the power play. She had a chance, Řepík also hit the post, but the guests just as well. In particular, the pair of Zikmund and Melka had clear chances, but the good performance of these muskets with wet dust did not translate into a goal.
The guests regretted it at the beginning of the third part, when Slováček backed off too much and Jandus burned through Bow from the wing. Then, very cheaply, Safin raised the ball from close range, and in the end, Pavel Kousal punished the visitors, who already tried a power-play six minutes before the end. His first goal in Sparta’s jersey after the exchange from Boleslav fell curiously, because Jágr prevented his shot from making a mistake, so the referees recognized a technical goal.
Matěj Beran knows that every lost point hurts a lot at the moment, even if the team plays tough duels on the ice of stronger teams (Vítkovice awaits after Olomouc and Sparta). “We have to take action because the table is extremely balanced this year. We could have grabbed something here at Sparta too, because even though they have a great team, it was 1-0 after two periods and that’s not bad in my opinion. We have to try to win something in Vítkovice,” Beran plans.
Guest Pavel Skrbek met his uncle Miloš Hořava again at the press conference and was again not in a good mood. “But even if it doesn’t look like it according to the result, we gave a better performance than on Friday and even created optical pressure at times. But unfortunately we are not able to score a goal, we have little pressure on the goal, and in addition, we combine everything terribly. This often allows the opponent to have chances, and Sparta eventually took advantage of them. She didn’t have that many, but it was enough for her to score four goals,” Skrbek regretted and added: “Unfortunately, if we improve something in the match, something else can’t be done.”
His uncle Miloš Hořava st. thought that it was an even match, in which goalkeeper Kořenář kept his Sparta. “Kladno had more chances in the first thirds, and we luckily scored the first goal. But we fought for points until the end and we are happy for them. Our second goal probably broke it,” said Sparta’s coach and thanked the fans. “It was the same with Kladno last time, they helped us a lot. They will probably come partly because of Jard, but they cheered great,” added Hořava.
Sparta Prague – Knights Kladno 4:0 (1:0, 0:0, 3:0)
Goals and saves: 16. E. Thorell (Kempný), 42. Jandus (E. Thorell, Horák), 48. Safin (Kempný, Mikliš), 58. P. Kousal (E. Thorell). Referee: Hejduk, Jaroš – Špůr, Zíka. Exclusion: 3:4. Use: 1:0. Spectators: 14292.
Sparta: Kořenář – Kempný, Mikliš, Němeček, Jandus, Moravčík, Tomek – Forman, Sobotka, Řepík – E. Thorell, Horák, Kousal – Buchtele, D. Vitouch, Safin – Konečný, G. Thorell, Kaše – M. Vitouch.
Affirmative: Luk – Kehar, Dotchin, Slováček, Sotnieks, Cibulskis, Babka – Kubík, Plekanec, Jágr – Brodecki, Filip, Indrák – Beran, Pytlík, M. Procházka – O. Bláha II, Zikmund, Melka – Michnáč.