Czech Republic round-up: Sparta's half-time lead

Sparta bounce back
Sparta recovered from their UEFA Cup exit at the hands of Turkish side Denizlispor, and the 1. Liga defeat by FC Zlín that followed it, to win with goals from strikers Tomás Jun and Marek Kincl.

Coach crisis
Slovan equalised once through a Samuel Slovák penalty, but could not find a way past goalkeeper Jaromír Blazek for a second time. However, the win probably came too late to save coach Jozef Jarabinský, with Sparta chairman Vlastimil Kostál reportedly making an approach for former national coach Jozef Chovanec, currently at FC Príbram.

Slavia are held
Still, it was enough to increase Sparta's advantage over SK Slavia Praha to four points. Slavia could only draw 1-1 at home to FK Jablonec 97, after Miroslav Vodehnal cancelled out Adam Petrouš's opener for the hosts. Slavia suffered a further blow when midfield player Radek Bejbl limped off with an ankle injury - ruling him out of Thursday's UEFA Cup third-round tie at FC PAOK Thessaloniki.

Teplice in third
Meanwhile, FK Teplice confirmed their position in third place with a 1-1 draw at 1. FC Synot. Lukáš Zelenka struck first for Frantisek Straka's men, only for Tomás Vajda to level for the hosts and so preserve their unbeaten home record. Elsewhere, coach Jirí Kotrba suffered a fourth straight reverse with new club SK Sigma Olomouc, 2-1 at FC Baník Ostrava.

Hradec Králové coach quits
Second-bottom SK Hradec Králové twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at home to Príbram. But the point did not prevent coach Petr Ulicný's departure - he resigned on Monday. Meanwhile, a last-minute goal from Maros Klimpl denied bottom club CU Bohemians Praha in a 3-2 defeat by fifth-placed FK Viktoria Zizkov. Zlín went down 2-1 at FK Chmel Blšany, while SK Ceské Budéjovice kept a first clean sheet of the season in the stalemate at 1. FC Brno.