Sparta Praha have replaced coach Michal Bílek with Jozef Chovanec with one game of the Czech season remaining after they lost top spot to SK Slavia Praha.

Saturday's 2-1 home defeat against FC Baník Ostrava, coupled with Slavia's 2-0 win against FK Mladá Boleslav, saw the two capital rivals switch places at the top of the 1. Liga, and Slavia now hold a two point lead going into the final round of the season. That turnaround, and a second successive home defeat, prompted Sparta to fire the 43-year-old Bílek, who has been in charge since September 2006 and won a domestic double last season.

Bílek had said after the Baník game that he would quit at the end of the season but the club decided to bring the 48-year-old Chovanec back before the final game of the season at FC Slovan Liberec. Chovanec won several Czech titles at Sparta as a player and one as a coach in 1997. He managed the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2001 and then spent short spells at FC Marila Príbram and Russian side FC Kuban Krasnodar before becoming Sparta's club president role in Sparta.

To add to the tension around the final league matches of the season, Sparta must play Liberec in the Czech Cup final on Tuesday before meeting them again in the league on Saturday. However, the outcome of that game will be of little consequence if Slavia win their final game of the season at home against FK Jablonec 97 on the same day.