Feyenoord beaten 1-3 by Red Bull Salzburg in the UEFA Champions League
Feyenoord was beaten in disappointing fashion by Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday night in the UEFA Champions League at the Kuip in Rotterdam. The 1-3 was the Austrian team’s first victory in this season’s Champions League.
The match turned after a mistake by Timon Wellenreuther, which led to the 0-1 in the first half. The German goalkeeper had been dropped last week for Justin Bijlow after underperforming this season. However, Bijlow was injured last week, which gave Wellenreuther another chance. However, the 28-year-old did not take the opportunity to change the manager, Brian Priske, ’s mind.
Luka Ivanusec was picked to start in the midfield. The Czech winger was replacing the injured Antoni Milambo.
The home side made a good start to the match, forcing Salzburg keeper Janis Blaswich into a few saves within the first 15 minutes. But Salzburg came back into it after this, with both sides showing some sloppy play, resulting in a first half with very few chances.
However, that changed right before the half-hour mark when Salzburg took the lead. Wellenreuther tried to throw the ball out to Igor Paixao, but he was not ready for it, resulting in the Austrian team, managed by Dutch coach Pepijn Lijnders, gaining possession. This led to the first goal after Oscar Gloukh crossed the ball for Karim Konate in the box, who was completely unmarked to head home.
The Feyenoord supporters made their feelings clear as they whistled Wellenreuther after the goal.
Priske’s team made a sharp start to the second half. Hugo Bueno was sent sprawling down the wing after a smart back heel by Ivanusec. He then crossed to Paixao in the middle, but the Brazilian headed the ball over the goal.
But the Austrian side made it 0-2 in the 58th minute. A corner was headed on by Kamil Piątkowski to Konate, who volleyed it home via the legs of Feyenoord defender Gernot Trauner.
The Rotterdammers should have gotten a goal back ten minutes later. Bart Nieuwkoop had a free header in the box from a corner by Hwang In-Beom, but the defender headed it wide.
It got more difficult for the home team in the Kuip after 78 minutes played when Chris-Kevin Nadje was sent off in what could be considered a very harsh decision from referee Donatas Rumsas. Nadje tapped the ball away before catching his opponent on the ankle with the follow-through. Rumas initially gave the midfielder a yellow card before checking the monitor and upgrading it to a red.
However, if Lijnders thought it would be plain sailing for his team from that moment on, he would have been mistaken as the home team got a goal back a minute later. Substitute Anis Hadj Moussa produced a sublime piece of skill, lobbing the ball over the defender’s trailing leg before volleying the ball into the far corner to give the crowd hope.
Rumsas gave another decision in Salzburg’s favor five minutes later awarding the team a penalty, although there would be very little debate regarding this decision. Feyenoord captain David Hancko put in a clumsy tackle on Bobby Clark. This, too, was given after a VAR review. The penalty was taken by Konate, who was going for his hat trick. But he failed in his attempt, hitting the crossbar.
Despite this, any hope of a comeback was soon dashed due to a fantastic goal by Daouda Guindo a minute after the missed attempt. The substitute smashed the ball hard into the net from just inside the penalty area to silence the Kuip once more and make it 1-3.
This was also the final whistle as the Rotterdammer's hopes of reaching the next round took a significant dent. Although they are currently still in a spot for the playoff position this will have been considered an important match to get three points in and to build on the impressive victory against Benfica last time out.
They have three very tough matches remaining in the competition as they face the reigning English Premier League champions Manchester City, German league leaders Bayern Munich, and Lille, who have seven points in this Champions League campaign.
