Teplice beat Jablonec 2-0 at the AGK Arena Na Štíndlách in the Czech League's Regular Season round six on Saturday. The hosts opened the scoring in the 80th minute when J. Auta found the net, then sealed the result nine minutes later through M. Radosta. By then the visitors had dominated possession without troubling the goalkeeper enough to make it count.
N. Okeke picked up a yellow card early on, and the visitors' approach never changed. They kept attacking, ran 108 attacks compared to Teplice's 81, and completed 418 passes to their opponents' 285. To be fair, Jablonec created two big chances against one, but their shot accuracy of 13 per cent meant most of it went nowhere.
The turning point came when Teplice stopped defending deep and started threatening instead. Auta's goal in the 80th minute shifted the momentum, and Radosta's strike in the 88th minute put the result beyond doubt. Five yellow cards were shown in total, with Teplice's L. Marecek and Jablonec's N. Okeke, L. Kozel and F. Novak all booked.
The statistics tell a story of control without conversion. Jablonec had 62 per cent possession, 215 passes into the opposition half and 108 attacks, yet managed just one shot on target from five attempts. Teplice played the second half a man up in terms of intent, with 11 key passes and 73 passes into the final third, but even their 33 per cent shot accuracy was modest.
And here's the thing — Teplice's aerial dominance was telling. They won 17 of 28 aerial duels to Jablonec's 11, which mattered more than the possession chart. The hosts cleared 22 balls and made 22 clearances, while the visitors had to make 32. When the game opened up, Teplice were better positioned to exploit it.
For Teplice, the win moves them closer to the middle of the table. They sit sixth with 10 points from six games, three wins, one draw and two defeats. The result extends their recent run of mixed form, following the 2-1 victory over Krzymice and the 1-0 win at Slovan Liberec earlier in August.
Jablonec remain eighth with nine points from four matches — three wins and one loss. They had looked sharp in their opening fixtures, but this was a different story. Out-thought on the touchline and unable to finish what they created, they'll need to find a way to convert dominance into results.
