Feyenoord has narrowly won a victory in the second group match of the Conference League. Arne Slot’s team started brilliantly against Slavia Prague and took a 2-0 lead within 24 minutes, but was pushed back in the second half, conceded a goal and was scared several times: 2-1. With the win, Feyenoord leads Group F with four points. Union Berlin beat Maccabi Haifa 3-0 in the same group and, like Slavia, has collected three points.
Slavia became undefeated champion of the Czech Republic last season and won the cup; this season, the club collected 22 points from 8 games. In the last 3 official games, Slavia scored no less than 13 times, but Feyenoord managed to take the upper hand from the start. Within fifteen minutes that predominance was expressed in the score. In the eighth minute Guus Til shot keeper Ales Mandous from a difficult angle, but moments later Orkun Kökçü fired a hard and clean long shot into the right corner: 1-0. Bryan Linssen had a good chance to double the margin in the eighteenth minute when he extended the ball on a header from Luis Sinisterra, but ran into Mandous from close range.
Kökçü sets De Kuip on fire early on! (1-0) ????#veronicainside #UECL #FEYSLA pic.twitter.com/GwKHkgaVcc
— Veronica Inside (@veronicainside) September 30, 2021
Halfway through the first half, Feyenoord deserved 2-0. The home team forced Alexander Bah to lose the ball and launched a counterattack. The steamed-up Tyrell Malacia found Linssen, who trumped Lukas Masopust at the far post and headed in. Feyenoord did not encounter any problems in the remainder of the first half. The home team kept on putting pressure, so Slavia didn’t get into their own game. After the break, Linssen scored the first goal, but Slavia played football more often in the half and in the goal area of Feyenoord. The home team had to defend more; the fierceness of the first half was no longer visible in the game.
Because of the 2-0 lead, Feyenoord did not have to worry much, but Slavia found the connection after 62 minutes. Tomás Holes, known for his goal and assist in the eighth final of the European Championship against the the Dutch, was completely free and headed after a free kick from fellow international Petr Sevcik. Worrying for Feyenoord was that it was hardly time to play football anymore. A shot by Ivan Schranz just in front of goal was narrowly blocked by Malacia, preventing the equalizer. The final phase was marred by fouls, yellow cards and disturbances, as a result of which time ticked away in Feyenoord’s favor.