Sparta's coach Pavel Vrba made three changes in the line-up in comparison to the last match against Karviná. The good news was that Jakub Pešek returned after the injury. He played instead of Karlsson. Except for him, Sáček and Karabec were replaced by Souček and Pulkrab. Vrba could not count due to different injuries and health problems with Sáček, Gabriel, Juliš, Čelůstka, and Højer.
The first interesting moment came in the 5th minute when Hedlund shot on Holec. The Slovak goalkeeper was ready and did not have any trouble with this attempt.
Sparta showed nice and easy action in the 17th minute. Haraslín was at the end of it, but his shot went directly to Hermansen.
Sparta had another opportunity three minutes later when Pešek sent a pass to Pulkrab in a good position, but he was not able to tackle it.
The game did not offer any bigger chances in the next minutes, while both defensive lines worked very well.
Sparta had a free kick tightly behind the penalty box in the 43rd minute. Hancko's shot went inside the goal while Hermansen could not do a lot in this situation, 1-0. It was the last interesting moment in the first half.
Pešek had a good chance in the 49th minute but Brøndby's goalkeeper made a good save and tackled the ball. However, it went directly to Hložek who did it cleverly and scored from a tough angle, 2-0.
Wiesner saw a red card in the 57th minute after the second yellow. Brøndby played with one more player from this time.
Brøndby had the biggest opportunity on their side three minutes later when Hedlund missed the uncovered target.
The Danish team also did not finish the match with 11 players. Ben Slimane got a second yellow card in the 75th minute and had to leave the pitch.
Sparta had a good chance from the corner-kick one minute later when Haraslín found Hancko's head. Hermansen with a great save.
Haraslín did not find a way to score a goal in the 81st minute and he tightly missed a target.
Rosted almost scored an own goal. Hancko with another promising header from the following corner-kick.
The match finished 2-0 and Sparta qualified for Europa Conference League.
Sparta’s coach Pavel Vrba: “We played a very good match. I would compare it to home games against Rangers and Slavia. Our defensive line played really well, we were precious, and we scored goals which was important. However, we could be more effective today. The game was influenced by the red card after which we had to handle a good passage from Brøndby. As soon as there was the same number of players on the pitch, we controlled the game again. I am happy we made 7 points in the difficult group, and we continue in European cups. Every advance to the spring rounds is a great success for Czech football. Europa Conference League has its quality that is similar to Europa League, but I am a little bit upset that we do not continue in Europa League.”
AC Sparta Prague – Brøndby IF 2-0 (1-0)
Goals: 43. Hancko, 49. Hložek. Red cards: 57. Wiesner – 75. Ben Slimane. Yellow cards: Wiesner, Pulkrab, Souček – Ben Slimane, Riveros, Maxsö, Singh. Referees: Pawson – Betts, Hussin (all from England).
Sparta: Holec – Wiesner, Panák, LK37, Hancko – Pešek (69. Krejčí), Pavelka, Souček, Hložek, Haraslín (86. Minčev) – Pulkrab (60. Vindheim).
Brøndby: Hermansen – Heggheim (46. Greve), Maxsö, Rosted – Mensah, Frendrup, Radošević (61. Cappis), Ben Slimane, Riveros (61. Bruus) – Uhre (80. Kvistgaarden), Hedlund (72. Singh).
.JPG?width=-&height=336&quality=75)
