Slovan Bratislava

      Slovan Bratislava 1-3 Young Boys

      Young Boys brushed aside eliminated Slovan Bratislava 3-1 to remain in the hunt for the next round of the Europa League.Guillaume Hoarau's early penalty was cancelled out almost immediately by Seydouba Soumah, whose effort was the Slovakian side's first goal in five Group I matches.But a brace from Yuya Kubo, one in each half, settled matters in the visitors' favour.Both sides came out quickly, with action at either end before Young Boys went in front in the ninth minute.Nicolas Gorosito was to blame for the goal, handballing in the penalty area to concede a spot-kick.Hoarau beat Dusan Pernis with a cleanly hit effort into the bottom and within moments of the restart one of Jan Lecjaks or Sekou Sanogo might have made it 2-0.Instead Pernis saved from the former and David Hudak blocked the latter's follow-up, interventions that paved the way for an equaliser within two minutes.Soumah made his own luck, dispossessing Milan Vilotic in the centre of the park before haring forward and slamming right-footed past Yvon Mvogo.The momentum swung back to Young Boys with a third goal in nine minutes, Scott Sutter nodding Lecjaks' free-kick across goal for Kubo, who obliged from close-range.Sutter and Kubo combined again before the interval but this time the striker saw his header saved.Two minutes into the second period Soumah had the chance to double his tally from a well-placed free-kick but missed the target, as did Lester Peltier from a similar position soon after.Kubo then put daylight between the sides when Sutter, excelling on his 50th European appearance, left him with a virtually unmissable tap-in in the 63rd minute.Erik Cikos wasted another Slovan chance before Young Boys tightened up to close the game out, with the home side trapped in defence as the final whistle came.ends
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        Sparta Prague 4-0 Slovan Bratislava

        David Lafata continued his Europa League hot streak with a brace as Sparta Prague went top of Group I with victory over Slovan Bratislava.Sparta ran out 4-0 winners at Stadion Letna, one better than sides' previous meeting, with Lafata scoring his fourth and fifth of the competition.The 33-year-old opened and closed the scoring, with Ladislav Krejci and Costa Nhamoinesu also on the scoresheet.The game was slow to get going, Lester Peltier wasting the best early chance for the Slovakians in a contest that was rapidly descending into a drab spectacle until Sparta took the lead in the 29th minute.It was a fittingly scrappy effort, Vacha's initial shot deflected before Lafata outfought defender Kristian Kolcak to slot home.Bratislava barely had time to muster a response before they had conceded again, Marek Matejovsky's through ball splitting the defence and finding Krejci.He took aim across goal and converted with a neat left-foot finish.Sparta were pushing for a third in the closing minutes of the first half, with the visitors losing discipline, but Lafata had the best chance and left Dusan Pernis a simple save.Bratislava were strangely becalmed once the second period got under way, unable to force themselves forward as Sparta edged towards victory.There was little goalmouth action to speak of at either end for 20 minutes, a sequence ended only by a modest effort from Tiemoko Konate.Lafata had not finished for the day yet, though.His 75th-minute header from Krejci's corner took a deflection off Nhamoinesu and although Pernis made a smart save, the defender rammed home at the second attempt.That still left time for Lafata to add to his growing European tally and he could not have had an easier chance than the open goal Pavel Kaderabek and Matejovsky laid on for him in the 84th minute.ends
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          Slovan Bratislava 0-3 Sparta Prague

          Crowd trouble marred Sparta Prague's 3-0 Europa League victory over Slovan Bratislava on Thursday night.The Group I encounter at the Stadion Pasienky was 42 minutes old when Swedish referee Martin Strombergsson was forced to suspend proceedings with the game goalless as violent exchanges took place in the stands.The players eventually returned to the pitch some 40 minutes later and Sparta secured victory courtesy of second-half goals by David Lafata, Tiemoko Konate and Ladislav Krejci.The match marked the first time that the two sides had met in a competitive fixture since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993. The game begun in a somewhat timid fashion with neither side carving out too many clear-cut opportunities early on.Lukas Vacha and Krejci had early shots blocked as Sparta went in search of the opening goal, while at the other end a Juraj Halenar free-kick failed to make it past the Sparta wall and test goalkeeper David Bicik.Sparta left-back Costa Nhamoinesu then made his way into the Slovan penalty area after Jakub Brabec was fouled and headed Vacha's 21st-minute free-kick onto the crossbar.Slovan, under the guidance of new manager Jozef Chovanec, were in the ascendancy as the first half drew to a close and Bicik was forced to divert Erik Grendel stinging 20-yard shot over the crossbar.Play was then suspended as fans clashed in the stands, but order was eventually restored and the final three minutes of the first half were played without further incident.The second half was 11 minutes old when Lafata opened the scoring for the Czech side.The 33-year-old forward was picked out by Krejci inside the Slovan penalty area and coolly slotted home past Slovan keeper Dusan Pernis.Midfielder Konate made the game safe five minutes later when he poked home from close range after Nhamoinesu had sent in a teasing cross from the left wing.Chovanec responded by sending on the attackers Frantisek Kubik and Pavel Fort, but Sparta increased their lead when Krejci diverted Konate's cross into the net nine minutes from time.Sparta are third in Group I, level with Young Boys and Napoli on six points from three games. Slovan sit bottom with no points from their three matches.Both sides lock horns once again in the reverse fixture at the Generali Arena on November 6.ends
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