FC Twente win in Malmo to pick up their first win of UEFA Europa League campaign
FC Twente held on to pick up their first victory of their Europa League campaign this season on Thursday. The club from Enschede won 2-3 in Malmo thanks to goals from Sem Steijn, Ricky van Wolsfwinkel, and a header from center-back Gustaf Lagerbielke.
The win means that Joseph Oosting’s side still has a chance of progressing to the playoff round for the competition. They are currently in 24th position out of the 36. This is the last position that guarantees a spot in the playoff round. This is with the caveat that many teams below them have a game in hand.
The home team came out of the starting blocks strongly. Lars Unnerstal was forced into a good save after just one minute played when Hugo Colin was given a chance to score.
The Tukkers were awarded what many will see as a dubious penalty in the 27th minute. German referee Sascha Stegemann felt that Daan Rots had been fouled by Gabriel Busanello, but there seemed to only be minimal contact. The penalty was taken by Sem Steijn and he sent the keeper the wrong way and put the Tukkers 0-1 up.
If luck was on Twente’s side for the first goal, it was most certainly against them a few minutes later. A seemingly timid shot from Lasse Berg Johnson was deflected by Michal Sadilek, and this resulted in the ball looping over Unnerstal and into the Twente goal to make it 1-1 at halftime.
Oosting’s team was awarded another contentious penalty in the 60th minute. Stegemann was called to check a replay of a potential foul on Michal Sadilek by the VAR official. The contact seemed light, but Stegemann awarded the penalty. This time, it was the experienced striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel who took the penalty, and he too, made no mistake placing it into the bottom corner to put Twente 1-2 up.
It got even better for the traveling Twente fans three minutes later when their side went 1-3 up. A corner by Sadilek was headed into the net by Gustaf Lagerbielke.
A mistake at the back by Max Bruns resulted in Andres Christiansen placing the ball into the net and making it 2-3 to set up a nail-biting final 10 minutes for the Enscheders, but they were able to hang on for a hugely important victory.
