FC Utrecht beaten 2-0 by Freiburg, remain winless in the UEFA Europa League
FC Utrecht’s dismal form in the UEFA Europa League continued on Thursday with a 2-0 loss away to German side SC Freiburg. Ron Jans’s side were a step behind the German side in the Europa-Park stadium from the first minute and were downed by two first-half goals.
Utrecht is currently one of six sides that have not won a game yet in the competition. Jans’ side had lost to Olympique Lyonnais and SK Brann before this evening.
Freiburg broke the deadlock in the 20th minute. Christian Gunter was played in on the winger after a fantastic pass from Vincenzo Grifo, and his cross was perfect for Yuito Suzuki to run onto and place high into the net.
The home side were dominating and Utrecht were fortunate not to be two goals down in the 31st minute. Swiss midfielder Johan Manzambi beat two Utrecht players in the box before hitting a terrific effort, which hit the crossbar and then the post before bouncing out.
Although Julian Schuster’s side did not have to wait too long to get their second goal of the game. Set-piece specialist Grifo curled a free kick around the wall and into the goal to make it 2-0.
Utrecht were not able to create anything of note against the Bundesliga side. Goalkeeper Vasilias Barkas made a vital save to stop Maximilian Eggestein from getting his team’s third when the midfielder dribbled past two Utrecht defenders to make space for the shot.
Ron Jans' side will have to bounce back on Sunday when they face AZ, who also played in European competition this evening, beating Slovan Bratislava 1-0 in the UEFA Conference League.
