Hello, I am William Munt and this evening I will be taking you through the four 5:45 pm kick-offs in the UEFA Europa League, with our focus on the De Kuip Stadium where the hosts take on Roma in the first leg of their Play-off clash.
For the third consecutive season, Rotterdam and Rome’s premier clubs come up against each other in Europe. Roma eliminated Feyenoord in the Quarter Finals of the Europa League last season, after defeating them in the inaugural final of the UEFA Europa Conference League the previous year.
The two line ups are out with Feyenoord making one change from their victory against Sparta Rotterdam at the weekend with Bart Nieuwkoop replacing Lutsharel Geertruida.
Roma have rung the changes after their defeat to Inter Milan at the weekend with five players coming into the starting line up.
We will also be across the three other 5:45 pm kick-offs: Galatasaray vs Sparta Prague, Shakhtar Donetsk vs Marseille and Young Boys vs Sporting Lisbon.
KICK OFF: We are underway at the De Kuip Stadium and across Europe in our other three Europa League clashes.
2′ The atmosphere is bubbling nicely in the De Kuip Stadium with the hosts seeing most of the ball in the early exchanges. The home faithful will undoubtedly still remember the heartache that Roma have inflicted upon them in recent years.
4′ David Hancko tidies up well after a neat backheel from Romelu Lukaku threatens to put Angelino in behind the Feyenoord defence.
6′ Yankuba Minteh is penalised for pressing the Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar too energetically. The home crowd are encouraged by his efforts.
7′ The first chance of the game goes to Roma with Lukaku laying the ball off to Edoardo Bove, whose shot is blocked behind for the first corner of the game, which eventually comes to nothing.
12′ Feyenoord win their first corner of the night, as Calvin Stengs is tackled when attempting to bear down on the Roma goal. Svilar comfortably claims the corner, but is unable to set Paulo Dybala free as Wellenreuther comes out to clean up at the back for Feyenoord.
14′ YELLOW CARD – Thomas Beelen picks up the first yellow card of the night, after hauling Lukaku down on the edge of the penalty area. Pellegrini’s free kick is deflected over the bar and the resulting corner has too much power for the Roma players arriving into the penalty area.
16′ CHANCE – Lukaku heads the ball straight at Wellenreuther in the Feyenoord goal after good play down the Roma right hand flank by Rick Karsdorp.
Embed from Getty Images18′ Despite Roma being on top, Feyenoord force their second corner of the game, allowing their centre backs to come up and cause havoc in the Roma penalty area.
19′ Another disappointing set piece in the game’s early stages come to nothing, evading everyone in the penalty area. The ball is then swung back into the box, but Igor Paixao’s invetine effort is easily swept up by the goalkeeper.
21′ HUGE CHANCE!
Paixao is fed the ball on the edge of the penalty area by Stengs, but after sidestepping several Roma defenders, he drags his shot well wide of the Roma goal. Stengs then picks up the ball on the right flank and curls the ball straight at Svilar.
24′ Another chance for Feyenoord, as Mats Wieffer approaches the Roma penalty area, but strokes a tame shot into the gloves of Svilar.
Since Lukaku’s header straight at Wellenreuther, the hosts have grown into the game and should be ahead given the presentable chances missed by Paixao and Wieffer.
25′ SHOOT! Nicola Zalewski is in acres of space on the left hand side of the Feyenoord penalty area, but for some reason decides to square the ball straight to Hancko, despite the goal being at his mercy.
26′ Another chance for Paixao, but he is only able to deflect the ball softly into the waiting gloves of Svilar.
Elsewhere, Shakhtar Donetsk’s game against Marseille has been momentarily delayed, due to the players’ vision being impaired by smoke in the stadium.
33′ Back in Rotterdam, Minteh’s left footed shot has been blocked on the edge of the penalty area, as we continue to await our first goal.
35′ YELLOW CARD – Minteh has become the second player in the referee’s notebook, after being penalised for a straw hand in the face of Zalewski. The foul appeared to be given by the fourth official, with the referre seemingly being happy to allow play to go on, after Zalewski hit the deck.
37′ Wieffer takes aim once again from distance, but his speculative shot dribbles comfortably wide of the upright.
Embed from Getty ImagesDespite the best efforts of both sides, the game has not yet fully sparked into life. Feyenoord have looked more convincing and missed numerous chances, but Roma continue to hang in there and look dangerous on the counter attack.
STAT ATTACK – Both sides have completed 164 passes in the opening 38 minutes of the game.
39′ WHAT A SAVE! Wellenreuther flies through the air to tip a thunderbolt from Leandro Paredes onto the crossbar! The most exciting moment of the game so far and the Feyenoord goalkeeper comes up with the goods to keep the score level.
However, Young Boys have halved the deficit almost immediately – Filip Ugrinic has scored the goal that bursts Sporting’s bubble.
44′ Another headed chance for Lukaku is comfortably saved by Wellenreuther. The Dutch side’s goalkeeper has been the standout player so far in this first half, despite his side having been on top.
GOAL FOR FEYENOORD! The hosts’ probing has finally paid off with the opening goal of the game. Igor Paixao gets up early in the centre of the penalty area and powers a header past Svilar in the Roma goal. The Italian side will be deeply disappointed to concede such a soft goal, as Quilindschy Hartman was allowed to cross the ball into the box unopposed and Paixao was completely unmarked. The Brazilian did the rest and the hosts have a deserved lead.
HALF TIME: Feyenoord go into the break a goal to the good after a frantic finish to the first half at the De Kuip Stadium. Igor Paixao’s goal is the difference between the two sides, but Timon Wellenreuther has also more than played his part between the sticks for Feyenoord. The Dutch side arguably deserve to be ahead and have had the better chances, but are also indebted to their goalkeeper, after he pulled off a stunning save to deny Paredes prior to Paixao’s opener.
Around the Grounds – An action-packed 45 minutes sees Galatasaray on top against Sparta Prague, Sporting Lisbon ahead against Young Boys in an enthralling encounter and Shakhtar Donetsk and Marseille locked in battle with their game all square.
The two difference makers so far for the Dutch side.
So, what will this man’s half-time team talk entail and how will he overcome the first real test of his time in charge?
Embed from Getty ImagesAs Viktor Gyokeres continues to star for Sporting Lisbon, should Premier League clubs have taken more notice of his performances for Coventry City last season?
Embed from Getty ImagesA head’s up for tonight’s Europa League action after the conclusion of the 5:45 pm kick-offs:
The teams are back out for the second half – will Feyenoord hang on and go some way to avenging their defeats to Roma in recent years or can Roma roar back to keep the tie well and truly alive ahead of next week’s second leg in Rome?
KICK OFF: We’re back underway at the De Kuip Stadium – a huge 45 minutes lies ahead of us, which should give us an indication of who will be the favourites going into next week’s second legs.
46′ YELLOW CARD – Diego Llorente becomes the first Roma player to receive a yellow card, as he hauls down Ayase Ueda on the edge of the penalty area. However, Ueda’s free kick is blasted straight into the wall and has left Zalewski writhing in pain on the deck.
The first goal of the second halves has come in Istanbul, with Sparta Prague levelling things up against Galatasaray. The Ecuadorian international Angelo Preciado is the player who has pulled the Czech side level.
Sporting Lisbon have restored their two goal lead just three minutes after the break. Gonacalo Inacio’s goal will be a sucker punch to the Young Boys side, who would no doubt have been buoyed by their goal that halved the deficit just before the break.
51′ Paulo Dybala fires well over the bar with Roma’s first real chance of the second half.
53′ Another chance for Roma and Romelu Lukaku, but the Belgian forward is unable to keep his header down after good work down the Roma left hand side from Leonardo Spinazzola.
56′ Zalewski heads wide for Roma, who have started the second half relatively well and have managed to fashion a few half chances.
57′ Feyenoord spurn a great chance to counter attack, as Ueda’s pass is easily intercepted with Roma having over committed up the pitch.
58′ Another poor set piece delivery from Roma leaves their fans frustrated. The delivery is overhit and they are back with Svilar in just three passes.
61′ Patient build up play from Feyenoord allows Minteh the chance to shoot, but his shot is blocked and the hosts have to recycle the ball back, before starting to attack again.
GOAL FOR ROMA – It was inevitable! No sooner had Aubameyang scored than Lukaku scored his 26th goal in the Europa League. The Belgian striker has moved to within four goals of Aubameyang, but more importantly drawn Roma level at the De Kuip Stadium. It took a rather scrappy goal to beat the impressive Wellenreuther, as after good work down the Roma left from Spinazzola, Lukaku squeezed the ball out of the reach of the Feyenoord goalkeeper.
Both sides made changes just before Roma drew level.
72′ Llorente makes himself big and bravely blocks Santiago Gimenez’s acrobatic attempt, before Wellenreuther then almost plays Hancko into trouble.
76′ The game is growing slightly disjointed, with players going down injured and numerous substitutions restricting the flow. Roma will be the happier side if the game ends in a draw, as they will then be the favourites going into the second leg in Italy.
Feyenoord will take advantage of yet another stoppage in play, with Pellegrini down, in order to make another double substitution.
The Feyenoord crowd are growing increasingly frustrated with the antics of the Roma players, as they attempt to waste as much time as possible and take a lead back to Rome.
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty ImagesWho will end up with more goals in the Europa League – Aubameyang or Lukaku?
The chaos continues in Istanbul with both sides now down to ten men as Matej Rynes is shown a second yellow card and is given his marching orders. Football, chaos and Istanbul just seem to go hand in hand!
89′ HUGE CHANCE – Svilar is down well to block a sharp strike from Gimenez, who looked as if he was about to restore Feyenoord’s lead.
90+1′ HITS THE POST – Feyenoord win a free kick and see an opportunity to catch Svilar off guard. The ball is whipped in by Luka Ivanusec and strikes Roma’s woodwork to spare Svilar his blushes.
Marseille are back in front as well at Shakhtar Donetsk! Former Sheffield United star Iliman Ndiaye has scored to give the French side the advantage going into the closing stages.
Unbelievable! No sooner do Marseille think they’ve won it than Eguinaldo equalises for the Ukrainians to spare their blushes and give them something to play with when they journey over to France.
Mohamed Ali Camara was sent off for Young Boys late on in their game against Sporting Lisbon. It finished 3 – 1 to the Portuguese side, who are in command going into the second leg.]
FULL TIME – An entertaining game sees the tie all square going into the second leg. Roma will undoubtedly be the happier side going into the second leg, considering they trailed at half-time and will have their home fans roaring them on in the second leg. Feyenoord will rue missed chances and the fact that they have not put the game to bed in their home leg, but are still in with a shot of avenging their recent defeats to Roma in the past two seasons in Europe.
What an evening! Across four matches we’ve seen 15 goals and three red cards! In our focus match, Roma came back from 1 – 0 down to draw against Feyenoord, giving them the advantage going into the second leg in Rome. Who says the Champions League is the most exciting European competition? And on the night where Aubameyang equalled the Europa League goal scoring record for Marseille – bonne nuit. We’ll see you next time.
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