Feyenoord has secured group victory and qualification for the eighth finals in the Conference League. The team of trainer Arne Slot barely had a point with ten men in the away game against Slavia Prague: 2-2. Substitute Cyriel Dessers scored both goals; Ofir Marciano had an unfortunate match. Feyenoord would also have qualified for the next round in a defeat, because Maccabi Haifa lost 0-1 to Union Berlin, but is now also group winner and therefore avoids the intermediate round in the knockout phase. Guus Til received a red card in the first half.
Justin Bijlow had to be absent due to a corona infection and was replaced by Marciano, but Feyenoord otherwise played with the expected names. Not only the line-up, but also the playing style had few surprises: as usual, Slot’s team immediately tried to secure the opponent by fiercely entering the duels and playing forward. Still, Slavia managed to open the score after eleven minutes. Marciano sent a weak pass to Tyrell Malacia, who was then trumped by Alexander Bah. The emerging right back of Slavia served Peter Olayinka, who was completely free in front of the goal: 1-0.
Feyenoord’s concerns increased because Bryan Linssen had to stop the fight early. In the 17th minute, the forward went to the grass, possibly due to an eye problem, and was replaced by Dessers. The substitute showed up ten minutes after his entrance with a hard shot with the left leg, which was saved by keeper Ales Mandous. The ensuing corner gave Til a header from close range, but again Mandous saved. Feyenoord had a strong phase and rewarded itself via Dessers, who was reached in the penalty area by Jens Toornstra, turned away from his opponent in a smooth movement and finished convincingly.
However, the joy soon gave way to frustration at Feyenoord. To the dismay of the team and coach Slot, Til received a red card for a major and unnecessary tackle on Nicolae Stanciu’s calf, nota bene around Slavia’s penalty area. Initially, referee Mattias Gestranius awarded a yellow card, but on the advice of his linesman it became a red card. Slavia therefore looked for the lead, while Feyenoord had to work hard to camouflage the numerical bottom number. After more than an hour, the team from Rotterdam breathed a sigh of relief when Marciano, with some luck, turned a header from Jan Kuchta from very close by.
The same Marciano, however, was able to count on that Slavia took the lead a little later. The keeper released the ball after a long shot by Tomás Holes, after which Kuchta gratefully took advantage. It was an unnecessary goal against, all the more because Feyenoord held up well with ten men. Although the visitors looked vulnerable, they created few opportunities. After the 2-1 Feyenoord took more risk in the hunt for an equalizer. Two minutes before the end, the Eredivisionist was very close. After a corner from Orkun Kökçü, Lutsharel Geertruida headed on target; a Slavia player’s header from the goal diagonally against the bottom of the bar. The arbitration ruled that the ball had not crossed the goal line. A defeat seemed imminent, but again Dessers scored a goal for Feyenoord in stoppage time. With a diagonal header he determined the final score at 2-2.