Super Eagles defender Igoh Ogbu was at the heart of Slavia Prague’s defence as the Czech side suffered a crushing 4-1 defeat to Pafos FC in their final league phase match of the UEFA Champions League.
The defeat brought Slavia’s campaign to a disappointing end, as they finished 34th out of 36 teams and failed to record a single win in the league phase. Pafos, meanwhile, completed their debut Champions League campaign with a memorable victory but narrowly missed out on the knockout play offs on goal difference.
The Cypriot champions made a confident start and were rewarded when captain Vlad Dragomir opened the scoring with a powerful strike to put the hosts ahead. Slavia briefly responded through Stepan Chaloupek, who swept home the equaliser to restore parity and offer hope to the visitors.
That hope was short lived as Pafos regained control of the contest before the break. Brazilian forward Bruno Felipe finished from close range to make it 2-1, before the game swung decisively in the hosts’ favour early in the second half when Slavia left back Jan Boril was sent off. His dismissal came just three minutes and three seconds after entering the pitch, making it the fastest red card ever shown to a substitute in the Champions League.
With the numerical advantage, Pafos pressed forward and found more goals late in the game. Anderson Silva struck twice in the closing stages to seal a convincing 4-1 win and cap a historic night for the Cypriot side, who ended the league phase in 26th place with nine points, the same total as Benfica but eliminated on goal difference.
Mislav Orsic added a late goal to complete the rout, equalling Pafos’ biggest ever win in a major European competition, matching their 4-1 victory over Petrocub-Hincesti in last season’s Conference League.
Igoh Ogbu started the match and put in a battling performance before being replaced in the 61st minute by Daiki Hashioka. The Nigerian defender recorded three interceptions, eight clearances, six recoveries, won three of four aerial duels and completed 28 of 33 passes in a difficult night for Slavia’s back line.
