FEYENOORD 3- 3 SLIVIA PRAGUE- SLIVIA PRAGUE STRIKES LATE IN A SIX GOAL THRILLER AT AWAY WITH FEYENOORD IN THE EUROPA LEAGUE QUATER FINAL FIRST LEG.
Feyenoord and SK Slavia Prague shared the spoils in a scintillating first leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) quarter-final, as the both sides played out an end-to-end draw for the second time this season.
The two quarter-finalists were no strangers to each other in UECL this season, having already jostled in the group stages. Feyenoord snatched four points from those games in September and November, respectively, and they stormed ahead in front of their home supporters in the 10th minute of this trilogy fixture. Colombian international Luis Sinisterra nonchalantly collected the ball on the edge of the area from Reiss Nelson, and produced a stunning effort to give the Rotterdam outfit the early advantage.
‘De club aan de Maas’ hadn’t featured in a European quarter-final since winning the UEFA Cup in 2002, but they ramped up the pressure after taking the lead, and came close to adding a second in the 19th minute when Orkun Kökçü’s ferocious strike from 25-yards out rattled the crossbar. Slavia Prague, who had converted 21 goals so far in the UECL this campaign, needed to rediscover their free-scoring form, and they managed to level with their first effort on-target before the break, when Peter Olayinka was first to react in the area, walloping a rebounded effort into the back of the net.
Arne Slot’s team came out all guns blazing after HT, and immediately tested the gloves of Ondřej Kolář, as the goalkeeper excellently denied Guus Til’s snapshot attempt.‘Sešívaní’ may have felt aggrieved after the hour-mark when Tomáš Holeš appeared to be hacked down in the area, but the referee waved away multiple protests, much to the anger of the Czech visitors.
They turned their fury into a goal just moments later when 21-year-old Yira Sor latched onto a through ball from Ivan Schranz, and showed immaculate composure inside the box to slot the ball past Ofir Marciano. However, their joyous comeback celebrations were muted in the 74th minute when Feyenoord immediately hit back, as Marcos Senesi made no mistake from point-blank range to put both teams back on level terms.
Slot’s team thought they had completed their own comeback late into the game when Kökçü finally found the net with a spectacular strike. However, in another dramatic twist, Slavia then found a leveller deep into stoppage-time, as Ibrahim Traoré’s strike secured a potentially vital draw for his side ahead of the second leg in Prague next week.
