Slovakia hit five again

Slovakia 5-2 Czech Republic
Slovakia beat the Czech Republic 5-2 in a thrilling Group A game at the Åråsen stadium in Lillestrøm to advance to within a point of the final of the 2001/02 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.

Appreciative fans
There were 611 appreciative fans in the stands to enjoy the drama as the Slovakians hit five goals for the second game in succession to maintain their two-point lead ahead of Spain at the section summit and eliminate Josef Krejča's Czech side from contention for a place in Sunday's final.

Changes for both sides
Slovakia coach Peter Polák made one change to the side which beat Norway with Tomáš Labun replacing Dušan Miklas in midfield. For the Czechs out went Milan Zachariáš and Aleš Besta and in came Pavel Mezlik and Tomáš Mazouch.

Breathless opening
The exciting opening set the tone for the rest of the game. The first chance fell to the Czechs on five minutes when Martin Kolář found the space on the edge of the area to shoot, forcing Peter Kostaláni into an excellent diving save.

Slovakia open scoring
After 15 minutes Slovakia's Milan Ivana suffered an injury and was carried off on a stretcher. After returning to the pitch a minute later he immediately carved out the opening goal, dashing down the right before delivering a perfect cross for Igor Zofcák who shot low and hard past Michal Danĕk.

Czech penalty
The Czechs were level within six minutes after Marek Cech committed a foul in the box and Pavel Fořt clinically dispatched the penalty kick. Fořt might even have given his side the lead seven minutes later when the ball fell to him at the far post but he flicked his effort wide. Pavel Mezlik also went close on the half-hour, drilling a shot off target after being released by Fořt's clever pass.

Halenár accuracy
Slovakia retook the lead on 33 minutes when Juraj Halenár scored from the spot following a foul on Filip Šebo. However, their advantage lasted barely a minute as Radek Dosoudil got on the end of Tomáš Sivok's hooked pass to equalise.

Breathless game
There was more drama four minutes before half-time when Czech midfield player Kolář was shown a red card for felling Ivana as he burst through on goal. There was still time, however, for Slovakia to take the lead again when Cech's deep cross fell to Šebo who blasted the ball past Danĕk.

Šebo strikes again
The second half began at a similar thrilling tempo to the first, with both sides willing to throw men into attack. Šebo was booked for diving in the Czech box after a sweeping move and the ten-man Czechs soon began to tire. Slovakia took ruthless advantage, Šebo finding space behind the defence to strike his second of the game, and third of the tournament, in the 65th minute.

Sloboda puts seal on performance
With Friday's decisive showdown against Spain in mind, Polák substituted Šebo with 13 minutes remaining and Tomáš Sloboda, his replacement, put the seal on a superb evening for Slovakia with a fifth goal three minutes before full time. Slovakia coach Polák was delighted with his side's showing. "I am very satisfied with the lads," he said. "They have scored ten goals and they deserve it they played good football but the Czechs also made it easier for them on some occasions but we are very satisfied."

Krejča disappointed
Czech coach Krejča lamented his side's defending. "We were completely destroyed in our defence and that is why we got this result because we played badly in defence," he said. "When we were reduced to ten players we tried to win the match that is why we played so open and conceded another three goals."