two-goal czech republic lead montenegro published: friday 11 november 2011, 22.55cet czech republic 2-0 montenegro václav pilar's first senior international goal and an added-time tomáš sivok header gave michal bílek's charges a decent lead to take to podgorica. by ian holyman from stadion letná
tomáš rosicky did not get on the scoresheet, but the creative czech republic captain played a starring role as his nation edged towards the uefa euro 2012 finals with a 2-0 first-leg defeat of montenegro.
the visitors had pinpointed rosicky as the man most likely to undermine their hopes of reaching a first major tournament, and so it proved in a wintry prague. the arsenal fc midfielder undid an organised montenegro defence on 63 minutes with a delightful pass that allowed václav pilar to register his first senior international goal. tomáš sivok then headed in a flighted rosicky free-kick in added time to give the czechs a two-goal advantage ahead of tuesday's second leg.
mirko vucinic had highlighted the visitors' desire for a first-leg goal, and the juventus striker will have been disappointed not to have given his team the souvenir they wanted from their visit to the czech capital shortly after the quarter-hour mark. having darted in front of sivok to reach savo pavicevic's cross, vucinic could not keep his first-time shot down from close range.
with the visitors content to play on the break, the czechs enjoyed the majority of possession, and with rosicky bubbling over with creativity, they came close to making something of it before the break. the 31-year-old's pass set up tomáš pekhart, who dragged his shot wide. the rangy forward then extended himself to nod a rosicky ball into petr jirácek's path but with time and space just inside the penalty area, he failed to find the target.
seemingly content to soak up pressure in the first half, montenegro emerged after the break with greater ambition. czech coach michal bílek was keen petr cech should start wearing a custom-made mask to protect his broken nose, and a brilliant one-handed save from simon vukcevic's curling effort showed why. with rosicky in sparkling form, however, the hosts made the breakthrough.
after picking out jirácek only to see the fc viktoria plzen man fire wide, rosicky quickly produced another intelligent ball from wide that allowed pilar to fire low into the left-hand corner. with fireworks going off over central prague, the unmarked sivok enhanced the party mood, nodding rosicky's set piece beyond mladen bozovic to leave bílek's men well placed for tuesday's trip to podgorica.
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