Benátky nad Jizerou booked their place in the next round of the Cup with a comfortable 5-2 victory over Trutnov in the Round of 128 on Wednesday evening. The visitors took control early and never looked back, with a clinical finishing display dismantling the home side.
Benátky struck first through M. Stepanek in the eighth minute, and doubled their advantage before the break with A. Eichler's goal in the twenty-seventh. Trutnov pulled one back on the stroke of half-time when M. Bunes converted a penalty in the forty-fifth minute plus two, but the visitors immediately responded. P. Kavalir put them 3-1 up in the sixty-eighth minute, and J. Zabilansky added a fourth in the seventy-second. The home side fought back with a goal in the seventy-eighth minute, but that only briefly lifted the atmosphere before Benátky restored their three-goal cushion. M. Strasser completed the scoring with a ninth-minute strike.
Benátky were the more efficient side, with nine shots on target compared to Trutnov's five. The visitors held 56 per cent possession and created more danger, while their opponents managed only four shots off target alongside their five on target. The statistics tell the story of a match where Trutnov had their moments but could not convert them into meaningful pressure.
And here's the thing about cup football — it has its own rules, and tonight Benátky understood them perfectly. They kept their heads when trailing, switched to a more direct approach in the second half, and put the game to bed early enough to breathe. Trutnov, by then, had nothing left to offer.
The result means Benátky advance to the next stage of the competition, while Trutnov's cup campaign ends. The home side had shown promise in their recent form, including a 2-1 win over Slavia Hradec Králové in August, but this was a different proposition entirely.