Vitesse was eliminated from the Conference League on Thursday evening. For a long time it looked as if the Arnhem team were going to drag an extension out of the fire when visiting AS Roma, but in stoppage time Tammy Abraham struck from close by on a pass from Rick Karsdorp: 1-1. The draw was not enough for the team of coach Thomas Letsch to compensate for the 0-1 defeat in the first leg. On behalf of Vitesse, Maximilian Wittek scored brilliantly with a volley.
Compared to the duel in Arnhem, Letsch made two personnel changes. Riechedly Bazoer was in the center of the five-man defense this time, while Eli Dasa at the back right was preferred over Dominik Oroz. The latter took yellow last week and was suspended for the return. Furthermore, the injured Matús Bero and Tomás Hájek were also missing; Daan Huisman thus got a place in the starting eleven. The attacking duo was formed by Adrian Grbic and Lois Openda. On the Roman side, the suspended Sérgio Oliveira and Gianluca Mancini were replaced by Lorenzo Pellegrini and Chris Smalling respectively.
† BOOM! Maximilian Wittek: 0-1 to @MyVitesse † † ESPN #?? #ROMVIT #UECL pic.twitter.com/QayGUWPp0q
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) March 17, 2022
Already in the second minute of play Grbic came very close to the opening goal. From about 35 meters away, the attacker tried his luck with a direct attempt from a free kick. The shot looked like it was heading for the top corner, but the ball exploded on the crossbar. Roma’s first opportunity arose after fifteen minutes of play. From the left, Jordan Veretout took a corner that went to the head of Tammy Abraham, who headed just over the goal. Ten minutes later, Veretout attempted a shot from the second line after a falling ball; his bet disappeared a meter off the left post.
Vitesse held up in an excellent way in the first company and certainly did not lag behind Roma in the opening phase of the second half. Moreover, the Italians seemed in no hurry to look for a hit. The lack of attacking spirit cost Roma dearly in the 62nd minute, when Vitesse suddenly scored 0-1. At more than twenty metres, Dasa’s lob landed in front of Wittek’s feet, who suddenly completed and curled the ball into the bottom left corner with the outside of his right foot: 0-1. It was already the fifth goal for Wittek in this European season, making him Vitesse’s all-time top scorer in Europe.
Roma was clearly shaken awake and Mourinho immediately made a triple substitution. Vitesse was pressed against its own sixteen-meter area, but the Arnhem team held out for a long time, partly thanks to goalkeeper Jeroen Houwen. The closing post had an excellent save on an attempt by substitute Bryan Cristante. Yet the curtain fell for Vitesse in injury time. After a cross from the left, substitute Karsdorp headed the ball into the goal mouth towards Abraham, who made the 1-1 from close by.
Related
More sports news