Feyenoord wins by ‘luck’ in Berlin: ‘I thought: ‘what is happening here?’

Friday, November 5, 2021 at 07:46• Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk • Last update: 08:19

Arne Slot was a satisfied trainer after Feyenoord’s victory over 1. FC Union Berlin (1-2) in the Conference League. Due to Thursday evening’s victory over the Bundesliga club, the team from Rotterdam is almost certain of wintering in the third European club tournament. “I don’t think it is very common for Feyenoord to win tough European away games,” said Feyenoord’s coach afterwards. “But we succeeded here.”

Feyenoord had already taken the lead after fifteen minutes via Luis Sinisterra, but Union Berlin took the 1-1 just before half-time thanks to a goal from Christopher Trimmel. In the 72nd minute, Cyriel Dessers became Feyenoord’s match winner by punishing a huge mistake by Andreas Luthe. The Union Berlin goalkeeper slipped after a pass back. As a result, substitute Dessers had the ball for tapping. “That was a stroke of luck,” Slot acknowledged. “But if you don’t put pressure, you won’t force such luck.”

As a substitute, Dessers also scored the winning goal in the city derby against Sparta Rotterdam (0-1) on Sunday. “We are very happy with that,” said Slot. “But Bryan Linssen is also doing an excellent job. He now had an important role again in Luis Sinisterra’s 1-0. We all do it together and often work harder than our adversary. That is our strength.” Trimmel received his second yellow card of the game in the final phase for throwing the ball away, after which Cedric Teuchert also had to come in for a kick at Tyrell Malacia.

“I thought we played well in the first 35 minutes, but then we were completely overrun,” Slot continued. “We were to blame for that. Because we suffered too much ball loss. I was happy that it was 1-1 at half time. In the second half we did better and we won by luck.” For Dessers, the winning goal was ‘his job’. “I’m here to do that. This is part of it,” said the attacker, who was surprised by goalkeeper Luthe’s action. “The field was very tough, especially in the box it was really slippery. When I saw that the keeper wanted to cut, I thought: what is happening here now?”

“That’s when I really knew I had to jump there. Fortunately, he came to me and I was able to push him in.” Dessers spoke of ‘extreme conditions’ in the rain. “I have never been so bothered by the rain as today. The field was super tough, you could see that in the game. After three pressures, my calves exploded.”

With the win, Feyenoord is almost certain of wintering in the Conference League. Slot’s team is the leader in the group with ten points from the first four matches. Number two Slavia Prague has six points, while number three Maccabi Haifa is on four points. “We are in a fantastic position,” said Slot. “One more point and we will spend the winter in Europe. That’s what we’re going for.”