Europa League knockout phase far away for FC Twente after home defeat against Union

NOS Football•yesterday, 10:59 PM

FC Twente sees the knockout phase of the new Europa League disappearing further and further from view. After three draws and a defeat, Twente lost 0-1 at home to the Belgian Union Sint-Gilles on Thursday.

As a result, the club from Enschede still only has three points after five matches.

The number five in the Premier League kicked off against Union in the Grolsch Veste a little later than intended, as the view due to smoke bombs was too limited for the linesmen to properly perform their task.

Not a pleasant start for the club from Enschede, which had also had to keep section P of its own hard core largely empty by order of the European football association UEFA, as punishment for racist statements from Twente fans last month against a Lazio player. player.

According to Lammers, the European dream does not end yet ‘But it doesn’t look good right now’

And that start became even worse when goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall was passed twice within eleven minutes. Twente was fortunate that the first Union goal by Croatian Franjo Ivanovic was disallowed because referee Sofia Boufal had sent his pass with the outside right in an offside position.

But to the dismay of the Twente supporters, Mohammed Fuseini’s goal was blocked five minutes later, who also flirted with offside. On a pass from Ousseynou Niang, the Ghanaian shot the ball through Unnerstall’s legs for the 0-1.

Twente, with Ricky van Wolfswinkel chosen as striker over Sam Lammers, initially offered little in return, while the current number nine of the Pro League was constantly dangerous, especially on the left flank. Fuseini made it 0-2 in the 26th minute. His shot was saved with the foot by Unnerstall.

As the first half progressed, Twente gained some control over the match, after an apparently feigned injury at Unnerstal that enabled Joseph Oosting to put things in order. This did not result in more than heading opportunities from Sem Steijn and Max Bruns.

Oosting tried to turn the tide with three changes at half-time, including Lammers as an extra striker next to Van Wolfswinkel. It had an immediate effect, because Steijn, who scored nine goals in the competition, had a good shot opportunity after four minutes, but shot over hard.

Twente took much more initiative, resulting in more opportunities. Such as Mitchell van Bergen, who saw his shot go just wide via a Union leg.

The conversion of left back Anass Salah-Eddine to the right back position ensured that Union hardly became dangerous on the left after the break. Although they continued to pay attention to Union’s few attacks, such as in the 56th minute, when Unnerstall made a good save from a breakaway on Ivanovic’s bet.

Substitute Lammers was very close to the much-desired 1-1 in the 69th minute, but the striker shot a cross from the excited Van Bergen from the turn just wide. In the final phase, Unnerstall kept Twente’s hopes alive with a great save on a bet by substitute Kevin Rodriguez. But no matter what the home team tried, they couldn’t score.

Twente was left empty-handed against Union, which now has five points from five matches, two more than the club from Enschede. To have a chance of a place in the last sixteen, Twente must start winning matches quickly, starting away at Olympiakos Piraeus on December 12.