Sparta Prague cruise past Victoria Žižkov in Cup round
Sparta Prague made light work of Victoria Žižkov in the Round of 32, running out 5-0 winners at the home ground on Tuesday evening. The visitors never looked threatened as they moved through to the next stage with comfortable authority. To be fair, the result reflected the gulf in quality on display.
M. Vojta opened the scoring in the thirtieth minute, finishing a well-worked move with a composed strike. M. Jurasek doubled the advantage just before the break, slotting home after Victoria failed to deal with a corner delivery. The hosts had one yellow card to show for their efforts by then, courtesy of M. Vojta who picked one up in the forty-fifth minute.
Four changes came at the interval for Sparta, with F. Novotny, R. Reiter, A. Batioja and J. Alcocer all entering the fray. The visitors returned to camp and immediately set about extending their lead. R. Macek found the net in the sixty-seventh minute before M. Vojta added his second in the sixty-ninth, completing his brace.
M. Vojta went on to complete a hat-trick in the ninety-first minute, though the official records place it in the ninetieth. By then the game was long decided, and Victoria had nothing left to offer. The Czech side had worked the channels effectively throughout, finding space where the home defence had failed to close down.
The statistics tell the story without embellishment. Sparta held 65 per cent possession and registered eight shots on target compared to Victoria's two. The hosts managed only one shot off target and just a single corner throughout the entire match. Three blocked shots and eight shots off target for the visitors showed they created ample opportunities.
The result leaves Victoria with more questions than answers as they prepare for the next fixture. Sparta advance with momentum, though they have not won since their last league victory against Karvina. And here's the thing — five goals away from home in a cup tie is a statement, not a fluke.
