PSV hang on to beat Red Star Belgrade 2-3 in the UEFA Champions League
PSV just about held on to a 2-3 lead with ten men to pick what could be a hugely important win away against Red Star Belgrade in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. The Eindhovenaren were 0-3 up at halftime before a sending-off for center back Ryan Flamingo changed the game.
Goals from Luuk de Jong, Guus Til, and Flamingo had put the Eindhovenaren in a comfortable lead before two goals in quick succession from the Serbian side resulted in a difficult last few minutes. The win leaves PSV in 16th position, which would guarantee a spot in the playoffs round.
Peter Bosz made just one change to the team that lost 3-1 to PEC Zwolle. Noa Lang came in for Ivan Perisic, who is not registered for European competitions. The loss was the latest in a poor run of form for the Eindhovenaren, and they came into this game with a degree of pressure on them.
They almost went behind in the 13th minute. A mistake at the back gave Cherif Ndiaye the chance to put the home team into the lead, but his shot was saved by Walter Benitez in the PSV goal.
PSV broke the deadlock in the 17th minute. Joey Veerman took the corner while he was being pelted by snowballs from the Serbian supporters and put it right on Luuk de Jong’s head. De Jong did what he has always been good at and headed it straight into the far corner.
Almost the exact same goal happened six minutes later. Once again, a Veerman corner was swung into the box and headed by De Jong resulting in a goal. Only this time, the striker’s header hit the back of Guus Til’s head before going in. Veerman took the opportunity to celebrate in front of the Red Star fans after the goal after again being hit by snowballs while taking the corner.
PSV grew in confidence and had the chance to make it 0-3 a few minutes later. Again, it was Veerman who created the opportunity with his chipped pass finding Til in the box. Til laid the ball off to De Jong to his left, but the striker proved he is better with his head than his feet as he sliced the attempt.
It did not matter much, as PSV was three goals ahead at halftime anyway. The corners were causing havoc in the Red Star box, and it resulted in another goal. Veerman’s corner was inadvertently knocked to the edge of the area by Till, and it was met with an absolute bullet of a volley from center-back Ryan Flamingo. The ball hit the net before anybody could even see it, meaning that it was 0-3 at halftime.
The game was turned completely on its head in the 50th minute when Flamingo was sent off. The center-back fouled Nemanja Radonjic, and the Romanian referee, Istvan Kovacs, deemed him to be the last man and issued a red card.
Red Star got their first goal back in the 71st minute. Nasser Djiga came forward from the back and put in a great cross, which found Ndiaye completely unmarked. It was a simple finish for the striker, who has been in great form in the Serbian league, scoring 13 goals in 16 games this season.
Djiga followed his assist with a goal five minutes later. A corner was headed in by the center back to make it 2-3.
This led to a lot of attacks from Red Star but PSV were mainly able to keep the Serbians at bay before running over to celebrate with their traveling supporters in the corner of the stadium.
It was a much-needed win for PSV, who will face the best team in the UEFA Champions League this season, Liverpool, in their final game. Liverpool is already guaranteed progression to the next round and has also guaranteed first place. Therefore, Dutch manager Arne Slot may choose to rest many of his first-team players for the match next week.
