feature-image

Getty

feature-image

Getty

PRAGUE (Reuters) – The Czech Republic eased to a 4-1 win over Serbia on Friday in a Euro 2016 tune-up courtesy of three second half goals in a game the home side controlled from start to finish.

Watch What’s Trending Now!

The Czechs, who topped Group A in qualifying, scored first when defender Tomas Sivok headed in a corner 17 minutes into the first half.

ADVERTISEMENT

The home side doubled the lead in the 63rd minute when Tomas Necid converted a penalty after Daniel Pudil was pulled down in the penalty area.

Serbia pulled a goal back in the 78th minute when Petar Skuletic beat Czech goalie Tomas Vaclik, before Ladsilav Krejci extended the lead to 3-1 minutes later when his shot dribbled between the keeper’s legs.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ondrej Zahustel rounded out the scoring in extra time when he headed in substitute Jaroslav Plasil’s cross seconds before the final whistle.

The Czechs have been revitalised by manager Pavel Vrba, who took over in January 2014 following the team’s failure to qualify for the World Cup finals in Brazil.

ADVERTISEMENT

Midfielder Borek Dockal, who scored four goals in qualifying, also added some of the cutting edge the Czechs had been lacking in attack.

(Reporting by Michael Kahn, Editing by Greg Stutchbury)

ADVERTISEMENT

Share this with a friend:

Link Copied!

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Written by

author-image

Dhruv George

14,842 Articles

Dhruv George is EssentiallySports’ foremost authority on motorsport and a founding member of the outlet’s NASCAR desk. A Journalism graduate fluent in English and French, he brings over eight years of motorsports journalism experience covering everything from high-octane NASCAR battles to the finesse of Formula 1 and MotoGP. His extensive paddock access has earned him exclusive interviews with top names such as Know more

ADVERTISEMENT