Ten-man Sparta Prague undone by Bournemouth's substitutes

Erik Lambrechts refereed in front of 17,377 at the epet ARENA, with a 17:45 UK kick-off. Priske's Sparta Prague lined up four-three-three: Surovčík in goal behind Hoever, Mbe Soh, Guddal and Suchomel, with Macek, Mannsverk and Irving in midfield and Singhateh, Braut Brunes and Alcócer in attack. Rose picked a four-two-three-one for Bournemouth, with Di Gregorio behind Smith, Hill, Diakité and Soler, Cook and Christie sitting in front of them, and Gannon-Doak, Adli and Brooks supporting Rodríguez. Mannsverk and Smith wore the armbands.

The referee's notebook filled up early. Guddal was booked in the sixth minute, Christie in the 20th and Hoever in the 30th. Sparta scored in the 35th, Singhateh finishing and the assist credited to Surovčík, their goalkeeper. The lead had barely settled when Guddal, already on a yellow, was shown a second in the 37th. Sparta went in at half-time 1-0 up, and a man short for everything that followed.

Both managers changed something in the 46th minute. Priske replaced Braut Brunes with Zelený. Rose took off Smith, his captain, and sent on Adams, and the change paid out in the 57th when Adams scored, shortly after Adli's booking in the 55th. Rose then made three changes in the 60th: Tavernier for Gannon-Doak, Truffert for Soler and Evanilson for Adli. Rayan replaced Brooks in the 72nd. Priske went to his bench as well, Jurásek for Irving in the 68th, Santiago Eneme for the goalscorer Singhateh in the 78th and Sochůrek for Alcócer in the 79th. The winner came in the 81st, Christie providing and Evanilson scoring. Jurásek was booked in the 84th, Vojta replaced Macek in the 87th, and in the 90th Evanilson turned provider for Rayan.

The numbers describe a side with an extra man and the patience to use him. Bournemouth had 59 per cent of the ball and 539 passes to Sparta's 386. They took 20 shots to 12, won 10 corners to three and sent in 29 crosses to 11. Sparta's reply was 35 clearances to Bournemouth's 20, and six saves to Bournemouth's two. Thirty-five clearances is a lot of sweeping. Twenty-nine crosses kept walking mud back across the floor.

The bench decided it. Rose's starting XI did not score; three of the men he sent on did, and Evanilson added the assist for the third. Before this game Bournemouth's form guide listed five wins, over Leeds United, Aston Villa, Manchester United, AC Milan and Sunderland, and none of those listed results carried a goal against them. Sparta's form guide listed a 5-1 win over Slovácko, two goalless draws and defeats by Baník Ostrava in the cup and Olympiakos. A home lead and a home crowd were not enough once the numbers on the pitch went down to ten.

In the Europa League table as it stood at 20:43 on 5 November, with this match included, Bournemouth were second on 12 points from four games, level on points with Benfica in first and Ferencváros in third. Sparta Prague were 21st on four points, one of six clubs on that total.