Red cards and high-octane action reigned supreme in the opening leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, which was everything from dull. The highlight of the weekend was Eintracht Frankfurt’s 1-1 tie with Barcelona at home, in which the hosts managed to get off 16 shots despite losing the possession war. Ansgar Knauff’s goal just after halftime was cancelled out by Ferran Torres’ goal following a beautiful buildup play. Frankfurt had a chance to make history in this game, but Tutu’s expulsion in the 78th minute ensured that they would have to hang on for dear life in the closing minutes.
Europa League scores
RB Leipzig 1, Atalanta 1
West Ham 1, Lyon 1
Eintracht Frankfurt 1, Barcelona 1
Braga 1, Rangers 0
Conference League scores
Feyenoord 3, Slavia Prague 3
Marseille 2, PAOK 1
Bodo/Glimt 2, AS Roma 1
Leicester City 0, PSV Eindhoven 0
Barcelona’s second leg against Galatasaray will be similar to the second leg against Galatasaray in the round of 16 second leg. Roma’s nemesis, Bodo/Glimt, is now officially a bogey team. It was Hugo Veltesen who once again played the spoiler role by scoring the winning goal in the 89th minute of the Europa Conference League match at home against Jose Mourinho’s team.
Lorenzo Pellegrini put Roma ahead just before the break, but Ulrik Saltnes equalised in the 56th minute to make it 1-1. The beauty of Roma’s matches these days is that you never know what you’re going to get. It’s hard to call this an upset when the underdogs don’t lose three times.
When you consider the circumstances, David Moyes probably will be delighted with a 1-1 draw for West Ham against Lyon. When it was determined that Aaron Creswell had hauled down Moussa Dembele during a reckless tackle, the England midfielder received a straight red card and was forced to leave the game early. You can’t leave these judgments up to the officials, no matter how little the contact was or how difficult it was to argue it was a clear goal-scoring chance being denied.
In the 52nd minute, Pablo Fornals intercepted Gusto’s pass, allowing Jarrod Bowen to open the scoring for West Ham. Following the deflection, Bowen rolled it into the goal with a simple deflection.
As Tanguy Ndombele scored the second goal following Tete’s attempt, West Ham couldn’t hang on to their advantage against their former London rivals. Even if Creswell is ruled out of the second leg in France, West Ham have proved in the past that they can’t be written out in any encounter.
Match of the day: Feyenoord 3, Slavia Praha 3
More goals were scored in this one match than in the previous four Europa League games combined. Although Slavia Prague won the xG fight 2.70 to 1.30, they will believe that they were cheated out of the victory. Luis Sinisterra gave the Dutch the lead only 10 minutes into the game. Orkun Kokcu hit the post in the 18th minute before Peter Olayinka wasted the greatest opportunity of the first half, indicating a high-scoring contest. In the 41st minute, he would make up for it, though, with a goal to tie the score going into the half.
After Yira Sor put Slavia Prague ahead in the 67th minute, Feyenoord equalized seven minutes later via Marcos Baron. Redeeming himself for wasted opportunities, Feyenoord’s Ibrahim Traore equalized late into stoppage time to keep the tie alive for the second leg in Prague, which will take place in the Czech capital.
