In the second leg of the Champions League second qualifying round, Sparta Prague triumphed over Shamrock Rovers by 4-2, making the aggregate score 6-2 in their favour. The Shamrock Rovers struggled due to defensive weaknesses and wasted chances at Prague’s Stadion Letna, a packed stadium hosting 17,000 spectators. The defeat pushes the Rovers into the third qualifying round of the Europa League, where they will face NK Celje of Slovenia, starting with an away match next week.
Sparta, evidently confident after their 2-0 victory in Dublin last week, brought out a markedly different team, with six fresh faces. Meanwhile, Rovers, under the eye of manager Stephen Bradley, made only a couple of changes to the initial squad – Lee Grace was positioned on the defensive left and Aaron Greene resumed his position as an attack leader.
The match kicked off optimistically for the Rovers, earning two corners early on, but by the 29th minute Prague had settled the game, led by wingback Imanol and striker Victor Olatunji. Despite Rovers’ quick counterattack minutes later, the Dublin team fell short due to another defensive slip, allowing Farrugia’s shot to fall agonisingly wide, guaranteeing their elimination from the tournament.
The defensive weaknesses of Rovers cost them again, with Sparta taking the lead 41 minutes into the match thanks to a header by Danish player Mathias Ross. The assist was from a well-executed corner kick by Qazim Laci, an international star from Albania.
As the second half commenced, Rovers made a strong start and were quickly rewarded. Greene headed in his second goal of the match, thanks to a brilliant cross from Josh Honohan, who was free on the right after receiving a pass from Farrugia.
Despite this, further inefficient defending cost them another goal within two minutes, with Sparta taking the lead once again. A corner was swept to the far post by Krystof Danek, where Markus Sorensen outmanoeuvred Grace and scored with a diving header.
After being subbed in at the 69th minute, Indrit Tuci piled on the misery for the Rovers by scoring Sparta’s fourth goal. Taking advantage of a pass from Ermal Krazniqi, he forcefully drove the ball into the back of the net from the box’s edge.
However, Rovers fought on, with Grace narrowly missing a goal by heading a Jack Byrne free kick against the crossbar. Later, their keeper, Pohls, had to prevent a couple of shots from Jan Kuchta at the other end.
Teams:
SPARTA PRAGUE: Vindahl; Ross, Pavelka, Sorensen (Zeleny, 62); Weisner (Suchomel, 84), L. Sadilek, Laci (Solbakken, 62), Imanol; Danek (Tuci, 69), Olatunji, E. Krasniqi (Kuchta, 69).
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Pohls; Hoare (Cleary, 24), Lopes, Grace; Honohan, O’Neill, Nugent, Watts (Byrne, 63), Clarke (Burns, 63); Farrugia (Poom, 63); Greene (Burke, 74).
Simone Sozza from Italy was the referee for this match, with a crowd of 17,000 spectators.