Determined to impress in their penultimate outing before heading to North America for the World Cup, Miroslav Koubek’s men came flying out of the blocks against Kosovo with a breakthrough inside 12 minutes.
David Doudera’s miscued effort in the box fell perfectly to an unmarked Ladra, who headed coolly beyond Arijanet Muric for his first-ever international goal.
Having won their last three matches on the road, Kosovo responded well to that early setback, with Veldin Hodza seeing a low strike smartly saved by Lukas Hornicek.
That sparked the hosts back into life, and they duly doubled their lead shortly after the half-hour mark, as Hoffenheim forward Hlozek powered his way into the box from Mojmir Chytil’s pass before finishing expertly into the far corner.
Both Czech goalscorers were substituted at the break as Koubek made a raft of changes, and the visitors looked to capitalise on that at the start of the second period, with Mergim Vojvoda seeing a fierce drive tipped over the bar by Hornicek.
The Czech Republic remained in control of proceedings with time heading into the final half-hour, though, and they went close to adding a third when Christophe Kabongo’s low strike was denied by Muric.
Kosovo refused to lie down without a fight, and the visitors halved the deficit in the 80th minute through substitute Lindon Emerllahu, who found himself in the right place at the right time to convert a close-range rebound into an empty net.
That set up a nervy finale for the hosts, but despite a late disallowed goal for Kabongo, they managed to hold firm and see out the win, extending their remarkable unbeaten run on home soil dating back to September 2022.