Croatia vs Czech Republic result: Player ratings as Patrik Schick takes the lead in Golden Boot race

Croatia 1-1 Czech Republic: Schick’s penalty cancelled out by a Perisic rocket

Czech Republic took another step toward reaching the last 16 of Euro 2020 after drawing 1-1 with Croatia on Friday.

The emphasis was on Croatia to go for the victory after they lost their opener, but the performance was again lethargic and lacking in creativity. Ante Rebic had their best ‘chance’ of the first half when a goalkeeping clearance smashed off his ribs and bounced wide of the goal - but a penalty, somewhat harshly given for a Dejan Lovren arm into the face of Patrik Schick, led to a goal at the other end.

Schick, after getting treatment to his bloodied nose, hammered the penalty into the bottom left corner for his third goal of the tournament. Immediately after the restart, Ivan Perisic finally found the route to goal for Croatia, cutting in off the left to hammer in a right-footed finish.

Both teams had half-chances to score a second in an increasingly tense second period, but the lack of final-third quality was all too often the decisive factor and neither goalkeeper was precisely overworked, with Bruno Petkovic’s late blocked shot the last real chance, leaving Croatia needing a win in their final game to have a chance of progression.

Here are the player ratings from the game in Glasgow.

Croatia

Dominik Livakovic - 5. Had a quiet first half other than picking the ball out of his net. Decent aerially in the second half.

Sime Vrsaljko - 4. Didn’t get forward too often and was troubled defensively at times. Rash in the tackle.

Dejan Lovren - 5. Blasted a free-kick miles over then gave away the penalty - bit of a harsh decision, in fairness.

Domagoj Vida - 6. Plenty of clearances, not always refined but largely effective.

Josko Gvardiol - 7. Fared better than Vrsaljko in terms of stopping the cross and defending his post; also got forward to good effect several times in the second half.

Mateo Kovacic - 6. Slow into the tackle and took a while to get his passing game going.

Luka Modric - 6. Overrun first half and easily bypassed, but controlled the game more after the restart before running out of steam.

Josip Brekalo - 6. Brought more ability to carry the ball to the team, but had nowhere to go with it. Subbed at the break.

Andrej Kramaric - 6. Did get the assist, technically, though it was all Perisic’s work. Didn’t do a whole lot else productive in the final third.

Ivan Perisic - 7. Hardly got into the game first half. Scored an absolute thunderbolt right after the break, on his right foot too.

Ante Rebic - 5. Twice fired off-target when also somewhat off-balance. Lacking composure and confidence, subbed at half-time.

Subs:

Bruno Petkovic - 5. On up front at the interval but achieved nothing. Had a great late chance but was blocked.

Luka Ivanusec - 6. Hard-working but little end product.

Nikola Vlasic - 6. A couple of driving runs from deep.

Marcelo Brozovic - n/a

(POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Czech Republic

Tomas Vaclik - 6. Other than thundering the ball straight at Rebic, barely had anything to do first half. Should have perhaps reacted better to Perisic’s shot, but it was fiercely struck.

Vladimir Coufal - 5. Unusually beaten from wide a number of times and didn’t stop Gvardiol’s infrequent attempts to cross.

Tomas Kalas - 6. The marginally more assured of the two Czech centre-backs. A huge late block on Petkovic.

Ondrej Celustka - 5. Made a few clearances but often hurried, inaccurate with his passing and unsure in the physical battles.

Jan Boril - 5. As anonymous as it gets. Didn’t offer support going forward, barely stopped anything going down his flank.

Tomas Soucek - 7. The midfield pairing was the best part of the Czechs’ side, blocking the route to goal, protecting the defence and passing largely well.

Tomas Holes - 7. Very much a dual effort on the part of Holes and Soucek in the centre.

Jakub Jankto - 6. Lots of effort and was an outlet in the first half, but pinned back far more in the second.

Lukas Masopust - 5. Plenty of running in both halves but rarely impacted the flow of the game.

Vladimir Darida - 6. Most of the Czechs’ best work went through his neat passing and ability to switch play.

Patrik Schick - 6. Buried his penalty after not having much service. Didn’t have another real opening thereafter but leads the Golden Boot race.

Subs:

Adam Hlozek- 6. A few smart dribbles infield and blasted one shot over.

Alex Kral - 5. A couple of drives from range and a cynical foul in midfield.

Petr Sevcik - n/a

Michael Krmencik - n/a

Antonin Barak - n/a