Slovácko host Sigma Olomouc at the Městský fotbalový stadion Miroslava Valenty and lose 1-2 in the Czech League's fourth round. The visitors take all three points after a second-half surge that overturned what looked like a comfortable first-half lead for the hosts. The result leaves Slovácko rooted to the bottom of the table while Olomouc move closer to the European places.
L. Lurvink gave the home side the lead just before half-time, a 45th-minute strike that seemed to settle nerves in Moravia. To be fair, Slovácko controlled the tempo for stretches, their 100 attacks outnumbering Olomouc's 85. But the half ended with the visitors still within striking distance, and that would prove decisive.
And here's the thing about second-half adjustments — P. Barath found space in the 67th minute and levelled things. The goal shifted momentum without the crowd realising it had happened. Slovácko's substitutions at 73 minutes, four changes in quick succession, suggested panic rather than tactical shift. By then Olomouc had already sensed blood.
P. Ndubuisi struck twice in rapid succession, the 78th-minute opener followed by a 79th-minute strike that killed the match. Three minutes apart, two goals that turned a contest into a formality. He remembered the minute twenty, when Olomouc were still finding their rhythm, and connected it to this moment of collapse. Slovácko switched off at the back, and paid for it.
The statistics tell a story that doesn't quite match the scoreline. Slovácko had six shots on target to Olomouc's four, and created two big chances against three for the visitors. But possession sat at 46 per cent for the hosts, who also completed more passes in the opposition half. Shots accuracy was identical at 0.5 for both sides. Many shots with one goal means chances went begging.
Slovácko remain 14th with three points from seven games, a run of draws and defeats that has seen them winless. Olomouc move to fourth with 13 points, their fourth win in seven matches. The gap between them is now ten points, and the line has barely moved for the hosts. Michal Trávník picked up a yellow card in stoppage time, the only booking of the match, but the damage was done long before then.