The counter in Europe is already at eight goals with 27-year-old Dessers and with that he does the Rotterdammers a great service. Gone are the times of Robert Bozenik and Lucas Pratto, an attacker who was picked up in Genk and who could be picked up for next to nothing in the Eredivisie for a few years, has become the hero of the Legion.
Pride
Together with Luis Sinisterra, who scored the third goal, he formed a deadly duo up front. But where the Belgian and the Colombian shone offensively, the backs Lutsharel Geertruida and Tyrell Malacia excelled in the back. The two products of the in-house Academy effortlessly hold their own on the European stage and ensure pride among their own supporters.
Arne Slot can be proud of his team, which has learned to play mega-attacking under his leadership. That sometimes went through trial and error, but at the moment he is coming pretty close to a European final.
Although he must have had a feeling of deja vu when he saw his team give away a dot of a chance after 42 seconds (!). Exactly what happened last Sunday in Almelo against Heracles and where Feyenoord conceded the fastest goal of the season. Fortunately for the Rotterdam team, Ofir Marciano was in the right place when Nigerian striker Collins Sor was deployed and he prevented such a dramatic start.
Real striker
Less than a minute later, Feyenoord took advantage of a capital blunder in the home team’s defense, where a Slavia Prague throw-in ended up at Dessers’ feet. He still had to bridge half a field, but finished like a real striker should do. The Belgian poked the ball at full speed and from a distance into the far corner: 0-1.
Cyriel Dessers is cheered by the Feyenoord fans who have traveled along
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With this, Dessers immediately confirmed Slot’s right as coach, who once again had to make a decision about which of his two strikers he would award a base place. Slot therefore chose Dessers this time and had less good news for Bryan Linssen, whom he put on the bench. A week ago, against the same opponent, the situation was exactly the opposite.
Sweet revenge
It seemed like a dream start for Feyenoord in an arena transformed into a red and white hell by the Slavia Prague supporters. After fifteen minutes, the text ‘Sweet revenge’ appeared in the stands over 100 meters long and 30 meters high as a reference to the group stage, in which Feyenoord came out on top against the Czechs.
But that dream start was ruined by Orkun Kökcü, who made an even bigger blunder than the home team in the second minute. The Turkish international played back on his keeper Marciano without looking, but he was not as close as he thought. Ibrahim Traoré said ‘thank you very much’ and almost walked the ball into Feyenoord’s goal: 1-1.
Orkun Kökcü (left) goes horribly wrong, which costs Feyenoord a goal against. Fortunately for the midfielder, the mistake is not fatal to him and Feyenoord.
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Feyenoord longed for a place in the semi-finals even more than PSV. There is still a chance for the Eindhoven residents to grab a top prize this weekend. Feyenoord had no other irons in the fire and so it was a matter of ‘do or die†
But the Czech Republic’s leader also had the same attitude. Slavia Prague played with the knife between its teeth from the first minute. At times ruthless in the duels, as Malacia had to experience before half-time. The left back suffered an attack on his Achilles tendons from Sor, where he was lucky enough to be able to continue playing afterwards.
Dessers’ physical strength therefore came in handy, just as Slot had predicted before the game. He was able to cope with the strong central duo on his own and on the stroke of half-time he almost gave his team the lead again. Dessers threw the big body into the fray and was in front of the keeper in a flash, who narrowly saved with his right foot. After that, Reiss Nelson should also have scored, but he finished from two meters as an amateur in the London Sunday morning league.
Festival of Mistakes
If the first half was a festival of mistakes from which the goals came, then the moment for Slavia keeper Ales Mandous was the superlative. With his bumbling in his own sixteen-meter he neatly took the first prize in the goof festival in Prague. Dessers in turn said in Flemish ‘Thank you kindly’ and was good for the 1-2.
Kökcü played with fire in that phase and that was a link for Feyenoord, because it had already lost Jens Toornstra due to an ankle injury. Kökcü, who is in the middle of Ramadan, seemed to lack sharpness especially in his head. He ran into a stupid yellow card and then continued to foul. In stoppage time, the midfielder still seemed to be on his way to 1-4, but when he approached the keeper alone, he was stopped by Taras Kacharaba, who had to go off the field with a red card.