| Bericht: | OM 0-1 TWENTE
A WIN IS OBLIGATORY IN HOLLAND
19/02/09 - OM 0-1 Twente
Beaten at the Vélodrome (0-1), OM will have to win in Holland next week to keep alive their hopes in the UEFA Cup.
OM 0-1 TWENTE
0-1: Arnautovic (22’)
The recent satisfying performances in the L1, were replaced by great frustration on Thursday evening. The feeling, after having been evident during the match, naturally found it’s way into the post match comments of Pape Diouf and the OM squad. They wanted to go into the return leg with an advantage, they will be heading to Holland one goal down. A goal scored in the 22nd minute, by Arnautovic, firing home at the second attempt at the back post, having been played in by Nkufo (0-1, see photo).
The match
Five changes were made to the side which started against Monaco, Brandao and Wiltord not being qualified for Europe, Ziani and Rodriguez unavailable and Bonnart in need of rest.
Mears started a match for the first time since his arrival.
Ben Arfa came on in the 30th minute, in view of how the match was going. Without any hint of modesty, Erik Gerets’s men had explained that they felt that Twente would make life difficult for them. But, they maybe did not quite expect to that extent. OM did not show what they are really capable of and because of this, suffered a logical defeat. A defeat, which puts into doubt OM’s ambitions of a long run in the UEFA Cup. Even if there are many reasons to believe that the match is far from over. There is still the return leg to go, and OM have proven that they are able to travel well.
They will, however, have to put in a totally different performance. The team-mates of Mamadou Niang, promoted captain after more than two months out through injury, were never able to find the right reply to the Dutch style of play, a mixture of defensive application (man to man, « old school style ») and physical strength in all departments. McClaren’s giants stopped OM from building up their moves, reducing them to the strict minimum thanks to constant pressure on the player with the ball. Valbuena and Ben Arfa (who came into the fray in the 30th minute) barely had the time to see a space open up before it was closed off before their eyes.
From that point on, an OM side lacking punch, were rarely able to worry Boschker. The experienced keeper did his job well in the 20th minute, pushing away a header from Niang. He had no other significant saves to make. Even if Koné did manage to break through on goal in the second half, before a poor rebound messed up his shot on goal.
On the other hand, it has to be admitted that Twente could have scored more than one goal. Steve Mandanda won a one on one with Arnautovic (18’). Then, at the end of the match, it was the post that came to his rescue when Nkufo fired in a diving header from point blank range, thankfully enough. But, OM will now have to win in Holland (by scoring twice or taking the game to penalties) if they want to continue their run in the UEFA Cup.
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