THURSDAY 28TH AUGUST
EUROPA LEAGUE PLAYOFF – SECOND LEG
SPARTA PRAGUE 3 – 1 PEC ZWOLLE
PEC Zwolle’s European dreams are over as Czech side Sparta Prague blew Ron Jans’ side away tonight in a 3-1 triumph writes Will Burns.
Sparta exploded out of the blocks and were ahead after just nine minutes with Ladislav Krejčí breaking past the Zwolle defence to slot past Diederik Boer in goal.
Zwolle attacked, searching for the equaliser and the all-important away goal but were hit on the break before half-time to virtually kill the tie off. Midfielder Bořek Dočkal finished a counter attack with a blast from outside the area, which cruelly deflected off Maikel van der Werff with Boer totally out of the reach.
Prague found a third just after the hour mark through Jakub Brabec before Zwolle grabbed a consolation through a Stef Nijland penalty kick, after Mustafa Saymak was fouled in the area by Radoslav Kováč.
The adventure is over for Zwolle, however they can be proud of reaching Europe just two seasons after promotion and with Ron Jans’ leadership they might be to qualify next year.
TEAMS
SPARTA PRAGUE: Bičík, Brabec, Kovac, Kadeřábek, Nhamoinesu, Matejovsky, Dockal, Mareček, Vacek (Konate 84), Krejci (Nespor 90+1), Lafata (Brezanik 90+1).
SUBS NOT USED: Stech, Svejdik, Hybs, Bednar.
GOALS: Krejci 10, Dockal 44, Brabec 62.
BOOKINGS: Matejovsky 32, Brabec 56, Nhamoinesu 57.
PEC ZWOLLE: Boer, Van Polen, Sainsbury, Van der Werff, Van Hintum, Rienstra, Saymak, Lukoki (Dekker 78), Drost, Thomas (Moro 70), Necid (Nijland 55).
SUBS NOT USED: De Jong, Ioannidis, Pereira, Lam.
GOALS: Nijland 83P.
BOOKINGS: Sainsbury 36.
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