In a Champions League encounter on Tuesday night, Slavia Prague lost a home game 3-0 to Arsenal. The Gunners from the Premier League extended their flawless record in the group stage to four wins from four matches. While Slavia remain without a victory so far.
What Happened? Slavia Prague vs Arsenal
After the game, Slavia Prague captain, Lukas Provod wasn’t quiet. He criticized both Arsenal’s tactics and referee’s decisions. He mentioned that his team “knew what Arsenal prepared for set-pieces for a long time”, but then Arsenal after scoring did slow down the game, and the referee allowed it”, according to his words.
Provod singled out the first goal in particular, which was a penalty awarded after a handball that involved him. He elaborated that the ball came off a header and hit his hand and that he was “100 per cent focused on defending” Gabriel. The incident was also inspected by VAR, and a penalty was awarded.
Furthermore, aside from the penal Arsenal half time Slavia had a fight with Arsenal over time-wasting. The match report states that the complaint from Slavia was that the referee did not deal with the issue of time-wasting. “Arsenal were time-wasting,” was one of the comments in the report.
Arsenal was fully dominant throughout the match. The match statistics show that the Gunners had a comfortable win against the Czech side. Their Starboy, Bukayo Saka broke the deadlock from the penalty spot. Mikel Merino sealed the win with his two goals scored later. Slavia Prague was completely off from the game as Arsenal came all guns blazing.
The big question is, where do the two teams think differently?
Firstly, from Slavia’s point of view:
They think the penalty decision was unfair to them and that it was quite harsh.
They argued that the London-based club slowed down the game after scoring and were not stopped from doing so.
The Czech side was convinced of its own performance and that more goals should have been awarded to them considering their effort and early fight.
Secondly, from Arsenal’s viewpoint:
They successfully implemented their Game plan which also involved Set-piece preparation that was good and efficient.
The London side put up a good defense — as a result, they have kept their clean sheet run intact and remain perfect in this group.
They were not challenged too much and managed to do what was necessary.
Probable Conclusion
Ultimately, while we can clearly see the defeat – 3-0 on the night. The source of the discontent felt by the Slavia team is as much officiating/fair-play issues as it is the scoreboard. Their comments after the match reveal that they think not just by the quality of Arsenal. But also, by the way the game was managed the outcome was decided.
Neutral Take
For neutrals, the matchup is an example of how top-tier games come down to the smallest details. The penalty, the set-piece goal, the change of pace from the leading team – all these factors played a part in Arsenal‘s victory. The protest from Slavia should be taken as an indication that even if a team is thoroughly beaten the story around that defeat can concentrate on the manner in which it happened rather than the fact that it happened.
Author’s Insight
The shortcomings that Slavia point out are true as far as they are concerned. They argue that the referee gave Arsenal the liberty to control the tempo as well as benefit from set-pieces and handball incidents. Even if someone doesn’t fully agree with their assessment, one can’t deny that the concerns they raise are firmly based on the pivotal moments of the match. In contrast, Arsenal will do nothing but count this as a great away win.
