Feyenoord secured a narrow victory against Fenerbahçe in the first leg of the third qualifying round of the Champions League on Wednesday. Robin van Persie’s team struck in injury time through Anis Hadj Moussa: 2-1.
Feyenoord was heading towards a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal from Quinten Timber, who is no longer the captain of the Rotterdam team, for a long time. But the match fully ignited in the final phase.
‘Fener’ equalized four minutes before time through Feyenoord player Sofyan Amrabat and seemed to take a draw from Rotterdam. But in injury time, Hadj Moussa headed in the winning goal for the home team.
Van Persie’s team, who played for Fenerbahçe between 2015 and 2018, therefore has a favorable starting position for the return. It is scheduled for next Tuesday (at 7:00 PM) in Istanbul.
The winner of the two-legged match will face French side OGC Nice or Portuguese side Benfica in the final qualifying round.
0:55
Timber scores via Turkish defender for Feyenoord in CL qualifier
Feyenoord better than ‘Fener’ before halftime
In his line-up, Van Persie opted for newcomers Steijn, Tsuyoshi Watanabe, Jordan Bos, and Anel Ahmedhodzic. The latter completed his transfer to Feyenoord on Tuesday and was immediately in the starting lineup a day later.
In the opening phase, Feyenoord had little to fear from Fenerbahçe’s expensive stars. Van Persie’s team, with its dynamic midfielders and creative wingers Leo Sauer and Anis Hadj Moussa, created threatening attacks. Although a flood of great opportunities did not materialize.
Yet Feyenoord had enough chances. For example, a header from Steijn was cleared off the line, and it was actually a hit soon after. Timber picked up the ball on the left side, easily outwitted ex-Manchester United player Fred, and shot accurately.
It was a special goal for Timber. Just before the match, Van Persie announced that he is no longer the captain of Feyenoord and that Sem Steijn will now wear the armband. Van Persie will provide an explanation at a later time.
After that well-deserved opening goal, Feyenoord looked for the second goal, which almost fell. A free kick from Steijn flew just over. It was apparently a trigger for ‘Fener’ to shift up a gear, because the Turks suddenly started playing football.
Crazy final phase in De Kuip
Just before halftime, Feyenoord were lucky. Archie Brown got the ball by chance at his feet and ran into Timon Wellenreuther, who, as is known, is preferred over the unfit Justin Bijlow. After that ‘Fener’ did score, but that goal was disallowed for offside.
It was a warning shot from Mourinho’s team, which remained stronger than Feyenoord in the first twenty minutes after halftime. The Rotterdammers were pushed back and had to survive. Fortunately for Feyenoord, the Turks lacked the creativity to create chances.
Feyenoord seemed to be winning 1-0 until the ball suddenly fell at the feet of Amrabat. He hurt his old club by shooting hard into the underside of the bar. Amrabat did not cheer after his goal.
De Kuip was briefly in mourning, but a few minutes later in ecstasy again. Hadj Moussa, only 1.76 meters tall, headed Feyenoord to a minimal and possibly crucial victory.