Montenegro | vs | Czech Republic |
|---|---|---|
 | Petr Jiracek (81') | |
| Date | : | Tue, Nov 15, 2011 | Time | : | 20.15 CET |
| Play on | : | European Championship Qualifying |
Czech Republic ensured their place in the Euro 2012 finals after a narrow win proved to be enough against Montenegro in the second leg of their qualifying play-off.
Petr Jiracek scored the only goal of the game in the 81st minute to give them a 3-0 win on aggregate.
The Czechs won the first leg 2-0 in Prague on Friday with goals from Vaclav Pilar and Tomas Sivok which meant tonight's slender win sealed their progression to Euro 2012.
There were several chances for both sides throughout the game but both teams struggled to convert their scoring opportunities.
Montenegro had the first real chance of the match when Mirko Vucinic was fouled by Roman Hubnik, allowing Nikola Drincic to step up for a free-kick.
Drincic fired in a cross but it was easily dealt with by Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech.
Czech midfielder Jan Rezek then tried his luck at the other end in the seventh minute but his 30-yard shot missed the left post.
The Montenegro defence was then tested twice in quick succession by Tomas Rosicky but it stood up to the challenge was able to deny the Arsenal midfielder.
Rosicky's cross was cleared by Stefan Savic before he delivered a corner which was caught by goalkeeper Mladen Bozovic.
The midfielder fired in another corner two minutes later to the centre of the area but this time it was cleared by Vucinic
Neither side was able to take a grip on the game and the next chance came just before half and hour when Montenegro's Vladimir Bozovic saw his cross cleared by Tomas Sivok.
There were no other real clear-cut chances before the break and the sides remained deadlocked at 0-0 going into half-time.
In the second half, Montenegro striker Vucinic had an early chance when his 25-yard strike was blocked by Rezek.
The clearance handed the home side another corner and Drincic fired it to the middle of the area where the threat was neutralised by Tomas Sivok who cleared it to safety.
Montenegro striker Dejan Damjanovic almost found the opener in the 50th minute when his strike from the right of the area was tipped around the post by Chelsea keeper Cech.
Vucinic then went close at the other end four minutes later when his close-range header flew over the bar.
Montenegro continued to push forward in search of a much-need goal, with Vucinic's 71st minute strike was parried by Cech before the keeper made another save when he tipped Vucinic's follow-up shot round the post.
However, it was the Czech Republic who scored what turned out to be the only goal of the game when Zdenek Pospech fired a pass to Jiracek, who fired into the bottom-left corner of the goal from the right side of the area.
Vucinic had a late shot fly over the bar as Montenegro failed to score, allowing the Czech Republic passage to the finals.
Montenegro vs Czech Republic Last 5 match
| Montenegro | Czech Republic |
| Nov 11, 2011, Czech Rep. 2 - 0 Montenegro | Nov 11, 2011, Czech Rep. 2 - 0 Montenegro |
| Oct 11, 2011, Switzerland 2 - 0 Montenegro | Oct 11, 2011, Lithuania 1 - 4 Czech Rep. |
| Oct 7, 2011, Montenegro 2 - 2 England | Oct 7, 2011, Czech Rep. 0 - 2 Spain |
| Sep 2, 2011, Wales 2 - 1 Montenegro | Sep 6, 2011, Czech Rep. 4 - 0 Ukraine |
| Aug 10, 2011, Albania 3 - 2 Montenegro | Sep 3, 2011, Scotland 2 - 2 Czech Rep. |
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