A draw, which both opponents eventually took

The first half of the regular season ended with the most famous Slovak derby between Slovan and Spartak. Football fans were wondering if Slovan would be able to restart the team after the loss in Yerevan and internal problems, or if their game woes would continue. In Trnava, however, they proved that even in a short period of time, the Slavs were able to get together for the derby and showed their playing quality, even if, fortunately, they failed in the end.

Nine thousand fans came directly to the stadium to watch the meeting of the old rivals, who this time showed themselves in a better light than eleven months ago. It created a true football atmosphere in which no one could take anything for granted on the pitch. Although it was not a match that would lift the spectators from their seats, and chances followed chances, but that could not be expected even in such matches. The quality was often eliminated by an even higher quality, but none of the actors can probably be blamed for the commitment.

"We believed in each other and we really wanted to win. We knew that more people would come and the stadium would be full, and because of them we wanted to win. We felt we could handle it, but we didn't. I'm glad that so many people came to cheer us on and we thank them for that. It's a shame that we didn't please them, but they applauded us at the end, so it probably wasn't so bad. Slovan could score a goal, they had chances and breaks. In the second half, we were already more dangerous, but we lacked the final phase or the last pass. In the end, a draw is probably fair," Roman Procházka, the midfielder of Spartak Trnava, evaluated the match, who managed a large part of the playing field, had many fights and finished the match with a bloody scar on his face.

At the beginning of the match, Slovan really had a lot of space during breaks. He turned every gain of the ball into a counterattack and outnumbering, and Trnava took a lot of strength to catch them. The home coaches therefore changed the original system. At the beginning of the second half, although Čakvetadze got into the biggest shot, which was brilliantly caught by the goalkeeper Takač, but from that moment on, the home team took over the reins of the match.

"In the first half, we were not good on the ball. We wanted to play a three-back system with two strikers up front. However, we left Slovan a lot of space for counterattacks. Around the thirtieth minute, we changed it, Paur stayed on the left wing. In the second half, we put Taiwa in there and were getting into our more typical game, but the quality of Slovan didn't allow us to get big chances and score." acknowledged Michal Gašparík. It's a pity that the territorial advantage did not lead to more accurate shots on goal, although it was visible on the players that they were trying to shoot. For the first time this season, the Spartans came out empty-handed in the league.

Now they have a national team break and after that a long line on opponents' pitches. At the Anton Malatinský Stadium, the turf will be replaced immediately after the national team match, and Spartak will not play its next home match until November 11 against Skalica. In the meantime, he will gradually appear in the league in Zlaté Moravce, Banská Bystrica, Podbrezová, Žilina and Dunajská Streda, and in the Slovnaft Cup next week in Trenčianske Stankovce.

"It doesn't bother us at all that we will play outside, because we often play better there than at home. Last season, even now we are slowly getting more points from outside, so this is not a problem. The farewell was a nice, excellent backdrop, as it should always be for a derby. From this point of view, it was a nice experience, it's just a shame that when it was already a draw, no goals were scored." said Michal Gašparík, who does not see matches on opponent's fields as a disadvantage. On the contrary, signs of wear and tear are already visible on the turf, and the players are looking forward to a new carpet that could benefit the quality of the game.