Georgia 1-1 Czechia: Both teams’ fates left perilous after entertaining draw

A Georges Mikautadze penalty was cancelled out by Patrik Schick’s equaliser as Georgia and Czechia shared the spoils on Saturday afternoon.

Despite dominating the ball, Czechia were left ruing missed opportunities, with Giorgi Mamardashvili keeping them out with an incredible 11 saves.

But Georgia rather facilitated the Czech dominance – after starting very brightly, they tired and by the end were holding on to a point. However, it’s a point which leaves neither side in much good, with the fate of both now hanging in the balance.

As it happened

Everyone has their opinions about the format of the European Championships. 24 teams makes things awkward, doesn’t it? So, here’s a radical solution: make it a round-robin where everyone plays Georgia.

Simply put, the tournament newbies have taken to the EUROs like a duck to water. Their first tie – that ridiculous 3-1 defeat to Türkiye – was probably the game of the tournament so far. They were so full of life, so full of desire, and they did not sit back. They took the game to a side much more used to tournament football and they provided us with the spectacle which defined matchday one.

Coming into this game with Czechia, the question was: would they change their ways? Would that first performance be an anomaly? The answer: a resounding no.

Georgia provided us with the drama yet again in Hamburg. Czechia, wanting a structured and composed game of football to keep their knockout hopes alive, will not be happy about that. But entertainers are going to do just that: entertain.

That said, Ivan Hašek’s side started the more threatening of the two, forcing Giorgi Mamardashvili into three remarkable saves in the first five minutes, first denying Adam Hložek and then, on two separate occasions, his Bayer Leverkusen teammate Patrik Schick.

That would remain a theme of the first half: Mamardashvili created a new definition for the word ‘imposing.’ He let absolutely nothing past him.

Well, nearly nothing. On 23 minutes, the ball was in the back of his net and Hložek ran off in celebration. His joy, though, was short-lived. It was bizarre; his attempt on goal inadvertently created a game of head tennis, crashing off Mamardashvili’s face before hitting his own. Then, it rebounded haphazardly into the back of the net – but not before it flicked off his wrist. Hand ball is hand ball, and the goal didn’t stand.

As disappointing as that was for Hložek, it was more than a little fair for the Georgian keeper. He made eight saves, which would be impressive for the entire game, but that was just the first half. Not too shabby.

Ever set on entertainment value, Willy Sagnol’s side would save the best drama until right at the end of the first half; Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (who, all things considered, has been really quite underwhelming at this point in the EUROs) lifted a free kick into the area which took a nick to find Guram Kashia in the box. He brought it down excellently and, no further than six yards out, hit his shot far too centrally, allowing Jindřich Staněk to make a relatively comfortable save.

It would’ve been an incredible story had he scored. Kashia is the 37-year-old captain. He’s waited over 113 games to take his country to a major competition and the emotion, had he scored, would likely have been one of the moments of the tournament.

Not to worry, though; there was some respite. The nick in the box actually came off the hand of Robin Hranáč and, after a brief VAR check, a Georgian penalty was awarded.

In the fourth minute of added time, Georges Mikautadze stood over the ball and made no mistake, cooly slotting it into the far right-hand corner of the net. There’s a redemption story there, too; this man missed his penalty in the shootout against Greece which landed Georgia at the EUROs. Now, two goals into EURO2024, he’s a national hero.

There was still time for more Mamardashvili magic at the end of the first half too – Schick, still yet to score this summer, found space to shoot in the box and couldn’t believe his eyes when the Valencia keeper got down in no time at all to deny a certain goal. But this is La Liga’s best goalkeeper we’re talking about; he prevented nearly 10 expected goals last season, and another right at the end of this first half.

He’s not a miracle worker, though, and 15 minutes into the second half, he would concede – and it was to no fault of his own. After a devilish corner was whipped into the area, substitute Ondřej Lingr rose highest to divert a header onto the post. It rebounded off of it, and guess who was there to score his first goal of the competition? Patrik Schick. He scored the goal of the tournament three years ago, but this one, tapped in off his chest five centimetres from goal, didn’t really compare. They all count the same, though, and Czechia were level.

But just as they got themselves back into the game, they were forcibly hampered. He’d finally scored, but Schick pulled up and had to be withdrawn. Mojmír Chytil took his place, but it didn’t slow Czechia down.

Much of the second half belonged to Czechia. Georgia, who started with such intensity, noticeably began to tire, allowing Hašek’s side to patiently keep the ball and look for openings – even without their main man up top.

Their next big chance came in the 77^th minute; substitute Chytil found space in the area, diving down to meet a teasing cross, but he could only divert his header wide. A minute later, Lyngr tried his luck from the edge of the area, but he was denied – no surprises here – by Mamardashvili. Anything he could reasonably expect to save, he did. It really did feel that Georgia were hanging on for dear life at times.

In the end, the Czech dominance came to nothing – but it could’ve been so different. A devastating break in the very last minute of added time gave Georgia’s Saba Lobjanidze one final golden chance to snatch all three points – but he couldn’t take it. With just Staněk between him and the goal, he could only blaze his effort over the bar. He should’ve scored, he should’ve won Georgia their first-ever major tournament game, he should’ve immortalised himself: but he didn’t, and in the end, there was no Czech Mate in this match.

All things considered, it’s a result which pleases no one, and it leaves both sides’ hopes of progressing hanging by a thread. It is possible for both sides to achieve knockout football, but a lot has to happen and not a lot of it is in their hands: Georgia have to beat Portugal and hope that Türkiye do the same later today, while Czechia will be hoping for the reverse of that scenario. Whatever happens, it will be going down to matchday three.

It’s up in the air and not entirely in their hands, but you can find out exactly what happens here at FromTheSpot.

The lineups

GEO: Mamardashvili; Dvali, Kashia, Kverkvelia; Tsitaishvili, Mekvabishvili, Kochorashvili, Davitashvili, Kakabadze; Kvaratskhelia, Mikautadze,

CZE: Staněk; Krejčí, Hranáč, Holeš; Jurásek, Souček, Provod, Coufal; Hložek, Schick, Černý