Gent landslide against Breidablik: in Belgium it ends 5-0. Bruges at Lugano’s home ok
Lille overtakes Slovan Bratislava, while Bruges and Fenerbahçe dominate thanks to goals from their old Serie A acquaintances. On the third day of the Conference League the Belgians – led by Skov Olsen – win 3-1 in Lugano, while the Turks easily overcome Ludogorets (3-1) with a brace from former Empoli player Zajc. Zaniolo’s Aston Villa also did well (on the pitch for the last twenty minutes), triumphing 1-4 in Alkmaar. Three points also for Klaksvik and Astana, Gent scored a goal (5-0) against Breidablik.
GROUP A
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Juraj Kucka’s Slovan Bratislava took the lead and then made a comeback at Lille. The French started well, but in the 23rd minute they conceded a goal from Cavric, who did well to attack the near post on Lovat’s cross. The Slovaks held their own, but paid dearly for an error in the setup phase: in the 68th minute a defender missed a pass and Paulo Fonseca’s team started on the counterattack, with Yazici scoring the 1-1 from close range. From then on Lille lights up, eventually achieving success thanks to Zhegrova’s magic: the Kosovar dribbles past three opponents and shoots towards goal, his shot is deflected by Cabella who wrong-foots the opposing goalkeeper. The French thus remain unbeaten and first in the group with 7 points, +2 on Lille and +3 on Klaksvik. The Faroe club, in front of its fans, wins (3-0) against Olimpija Ljubljana: Joensen opens the scoring in the 30th minute, Klettskard doubles the lead in the 44th minute after an elegant play in the penalty area. In the 54th minute the hat-trick arrived, with a header from the midfielder Andreasen.
GROUP B
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In group B only two teams take the field, since UEFA has postponed the match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Zorya to Saturday 25 November. Maccabi, in fact, was asked to propose venues and stadiums outside of Israel to play home Conference League matches. This leaves Gent at the top of the group, who after 20 minutes are already ahead 3-0 against Breidablik: Gandelman kicks off the ball with a header, then serves Cuypers with an assist for the second goal (again with a header). In the 20th minute Cuypers scores a double, crossing on the fly after a tower from Tissoudali, who in the 43rd minute seals the poker with a nice personal move. The match is one-sided: in the second half the newly substitute Orban also celebrates, while Gunnlaugsson misses a penalty in injury time. Gent wins 5-0 and is top of the table with 7 points.
group c
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Astana achieved their first useful result in the Conference by winning 2-1 at Ballkani: the Kazakhs scored in the 7th minute with Hovhannisyan (the opposing goalkeeper was not flawless and let the ball slip away), then doubled the lead with Beysebekov, who jumped more top of everyone on a corner kick. The pace drops in the second half and the result remains unchanged until the final whistle.
group d
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In addition to Gent, there is another Belgian team still unbeaten in this edition of the Conference League. These are Mignolet’s Bruges and the former Bolognese player Skov Olsen, who plays in Lugano in the third round and puts the match on the rocks after a quarter of an hour: from Zinckernagel’s cross, Balanta scores with a diving header. Bruges don’t dominate but manage their lead well and, in the 50th minute, double their lead with Skov Olsen, who reaches 8 goals for the season with a splendid left-footed shot from distance. A duck from Mignolet allows Vladi to close the gap in the 74th minute: Steffen pushes the Swiss to attack the opponent’s area in the last quarter of an hour, but in the final, Brugge scores again. A header from Captain Vanaken fixes the result at 3-0.
GROUP E
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Everything was easy for Aston Villa at AZ Alkmaar, where the English took a 2-0 lead at the start of the match. Zaniolo starts from the bench: McGinn, Tielemans and Bailey are the starters in the attacking midfield, the great protagonists of the evening. The Jamaican scored the 1-0 with a right-footed shot from the edge, while the Scotsman gave Tielemans the assist to make it 2-0. The Villains calmed down until half-time, then started pushing again in the second half: in the 51st minute Watkins made it 3-0 with an empty net, in the 56th minute McGinn made it 4-0 by reaching a low cross from Bailey in splits. In the final Sadiq scores the 1-4 but fails to shake up the Dutch. Zaniolo takes over from Aston Villa, remaining on the pitch for 20 minutes.
group h
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Dzeko, Cengiz Under and Szymanski start from the bench: Fenerbahçe opts for the turnover, but still wins without difficulty against the Bulgarians Ludogorets. In the first half the Turks didn’t enchant, but in the 42nd minute they took the lead with a flash of their stars: Fred slotted in for Batshuayi, who won a rebound, entered the area and beat Sluga. In the second half the former Serie A players are the protagonists: in the 52nd minute Zajc, who moved from Empoli, made it 2-0 with an easy touch in the penalty area. Ludogorets reopens the match thanks to an own goal from Becao, signed in the summer from Udinese. The Brazilian’s touch does not influence the outcome of the match: Fener scores again with Zajc and confirms first place in the standings with maximum points.
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