Wágner delighted with Vrba's 'perfect farewell'

The mood in FC Viktoria Plzeň's dressing room was one of euphoria according to midfielder Daniel Kolář after Tomáš Wágner's 90th-minute winner sealed a 2-1 success against PFC CSKA Moskva which ensured the hosts, not the Russian champions, claimed third place in UEFA Champions League Group D and a UEFA Europa League spot. "This was simply a perfect farewell," said substitute Wágner as the Plzen side said goodbye to coach Pavel Vrba who savoured victory in his last game before taking over the Czech national team.

Daniel Kolář, Plzeň midfielder
The euphoria after the game was tremendous, we were all so glad we managed to win. The course of the game was not going our way, though we started well. Our initial plan was to score an early goal as we knew a 1-0 win would be enough, but at the same time we did not want to concede. We were fully concentrated on these tactics, but nevertheless conceded.

The sending-off helped us a lot and since CSKA were down to ten men, we had the game under control and put them under pressure. I never lost faith that we would score. In the first half Milan Petržela had a big chance, then David Limberský volleyed wide from the edge of the area. But in Champions League games you never have ten chances to score. In these games you have to use every opportunity. In the first half we were not successful but we still believed in ourselves.

Tomáš Wágner, Plzeň forward
We only have amazing feelings after this game. We all wanted to get the desired result and we achieved it in the last minute. The score was 1-1 when I came off the bench and of course a striker's task in such situations is to try to score a goal. I believed I would score, I had a feeling all day that if I was given ten minutes, or a bit more, I could score.

The cross came through the whole box, Marek Bakoš helped me set up my shooting position because he managed to block the defender's efforts to clear. My task was to hit the ball into the net and I am really happy I did. This was simply a perfect farewell to our coach Pavel Vrba – we have won, secured third place in the group and qualified for the Europa League. We played as a team, everybody contributed to this success.

Pavel Horváth, Plzeň midfielder
CSKA played tough football today, they have great players such as [Zoran] Tošić. I think his substitution helped us because he was one of their best players. Then of course the red card encouraged us to go forward in numbers. It is always exciting to win with a last-minute goal, but I still prefer games when we have it under control from the beginning. From the 85th minute I was not watching the timer on the big screens because I couldn't bear to see how much time was left. But I still hoped one of our chances would be taken.

Keisuke Honda, CSKA forward
It was a tough game for us tonight. We were 1-0 up and in spite of the fact they equalised, we were close to getting a draw and qualifying for the Europa League – but in the end we did not manage to do so.