Ostrava - Vandalized train carriages, fights outside the stadium, and smoke bombs thrown by Sparta fans on their own goal keeper were the highlights of a closely watched match in Ostrava on Monday 3 November.
In the last game of the 12th round of the top Czech football league, former Czech champions AC Sparta Praha succumbed to Baník Ostrava 2-0 at the Bazaly stadium.
At the beginning of the game, there were 16,000 Baník fans, an exceptionally large turnout for a workday, but no Sparta supporters. After the Spartans damaged the train that took them from Prague to Ostrava and kicked out two windows of a bus that was to take them to the stadium, police told the crowd to go on foot instead.
Praguers only arrived at the stadium when the home team were celebrating their first score, authored by David Střihavka. A few minutes later, Tomáš Mičola secured a comfortable 2-goal lead, which Sparta were not able to shake off for the rest of the game.
Making defeat more bitter
To further the Prague team's humiliation, juniors walking Sparta players to the pitch after the break wore the kits of SK Slavia Praha, Sparta's biggest rivals.
After the enraged Prague fans threw a smoke bomb on the pitch, near Sparta goal keeper Jaromír Blažek, the referee halted the game for a few minutes to let the smoke rise and to pacify the Sparta camp. "We kindly ask supporters of the visiting team not to behave as they do at home," said the announcer, making the 16,000 locals burst into laughter.
Later in the game, when the time came to announce the number of spactators, the announcer amused Baník fans again. "Aside from the twenty visiting strippers, the stadium is sold out," he said, referring to a group of Sparta fans who were cheering their team half-naked.
Baník's 2-0 victory was the first over Sparta in five and a half years.
