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Bohemians stop Slavia in their tracks

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SK Slavia Praha's UEFA Champions League campaign got off to a great start but they have been brought down to earth with defeat in the Czech league.

Slavia fans have had plenty to celebrate this season
Slavia fans have had plenty to celebrate this season ©Getty Images

SK Slavia Praha's UEFA Champions League campaign got off to a great start but their spirits have been brought crashing back down to earth in the Czech Republic.

Tremendous form
Slavia opened their Group H account with a 2-1 win against FC Steaua Bucureşti last week but surrendered their unbeaten start in the Czech league just four days later, losing 2-0 against promoted neighbours FC Bohemians Praha. Slavia had started the season in blistering form, winning eight of their first eleven games in all competitions and drawing three, but tiredness may be taking its toll.

Seven absentees
Seven players were ruled out for the game against Bohemians. Martin Latka and Erich Brabec limped off during the win against Steaua while František Dříždal and Mickaël Tavares were also unavailable. With Vladimír Šmicer and Dušan Švento having had injury problems since the start of season and Michal Švec suffering a broken toe, coach Karel Jarolím was forced to changed his plans completely.

Bohemians triumph
Nonetheless, he had no reason to expect much of a test from a Bohemians side who had not won a game since being promoted back to the top division after a four-year absence during which they teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. However, Marek Nikl shone in his first game since joining Bohemians from 1. FC Nürnberg and maiden league goals for Petr Kunášek and Milan Škoda won the day for the green-and-whites.

Runs ended
Slavia's result was a disappointing one, but scores elsewhere were kind to them. League leaders FK Teplice also lost their first game of the season and failed to score for the first time in the campaign as midfielder Marek Zúbek headed the only goal of their match at FC Zlín. FC Baník Ostrava also lost their first match of the season at home against SK Sigma Olomouc, with Lukáš Hartig scoring the only goal.

Lengthy bans
Those results handed champions AC Sparta Praha the chance to return to the top of the table but they lost 1-0 at home against FK Mladá Boleslav on Monday. Radim Holub scored the only goal as Sparta playmaker Pavel Horváth missed out through injury. Indiscipline may cost Sparta in the long run as an incident during their 2-1 defeat at Teplice resulted in midfielder Martin Abrahám receiving a four-match ban while captain Tomáš Řepka has been suspended for seven games.