Madman Tomáš Chorý gives Arsenal's Champions League opponents the win but wastes one too many

By Alessandro Schiavone at Fortuna Arena, Prague

Slavia Praha 2-0 Dukla Praha

Goals: Chory 24' & 40'

Slavia Prague passed their derby audition with a convincing 2-0 victory over Dukla Prague on Saturday evening to move to the summit of the Chance Liga.

And the reigning champions, who will host Arsenal in the Champions League here on November the 4th, made light work of it thanks to a first-half brace by Tomáš Chorý.

But the scoreline does not do Slavia any justice having spurned a litany of chances, something they can’t afford to do when the Gunners are in town.

David Raya will be licking his lips at the thought of facing the ambitious yet wasteful Czech centre-forward. While Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes will fancy their battles with a hot-headed man mountain like Chorý.

Chorý, who was back from a six-match ban after punching an opposition goalkeeper in the intimate parts, was the headline act and the frustrating note at the same time.

A leader by his actions and by his voice, the centre-forward gave his side the lead when he tucked away a ball in the box after a scramble in the box following a corner in the 24th minute.

And he doubled his side’s advantage five minutes before half-time with a well-executed penalty.

Yet he could have pulled level with ex-Watford striker Matej Vydra in the scoring charts had he been less rusty in the box.

Early on he failed to apply the finishing touch with the goal gaping from an excellent pass by Provod across the face of goal.

And with the game still locked, the visitors’ goalie Adam Jagrik pulled off a sensational reflex save to keep his bullet header on the turn out.

Before Chorý put daylight between the two sides he fired one into the side-netting and made a hash of it all when he skied a follow-up from range.

Had he had his shooting boots on, he may have made up for missing out on six league games and be the league’s top scorer already.

There are no two ways about it: he should have done a lot better and many observers will be unequivocal about the fact that his missed chance galore left a stain on his positive all-round display which included a brace and good movements on and off the ball.

But when all is said and done, yesterday was the perfect opportunity for him to grease the wheels ahead of the trip to San Siro to face Inter Milan on Tuesday.

Bitter city rivals Sparta Prague have a game in hand and can pull clear at the top of the standings with a win over Banik Ostrava today.

That said, and despite their dominance against lowly opposition yesterday, both Inter and Arsenal should engineer comfortable wins over the Červenobílí.

Unless Chorý turns into a killer overnight...