Turkey's Trabzonspor suffered its first loss in the European Football Conference League, after falling at home to Germany's Freiburg, with an unanswered goal, on Thursday, in the third round of the league stage, ending its winning streak that extended to seven consecutive matches in various competitions.
German defender Lukas Kubler scored the only goal of the match in the 14th minute, taking advantage of a ball that bounced off Cameroonian goalkeeper Andre Onana, to give his team three valuable points away from home.
Freiburg regained its balance after losing to Monaco, France, 3-0, in the last round, raising its score to six points in eleventh place, which is the same score for Trabzonspor, which occupies ninth place.
The German team imposed early pressure on the hosts, which translated into a goal through Kubler, 34, who took advantage of weak defensive coverage inside the penalty area.
Onana almost scored a second goal for the visiting team after he made a mistake in passing the ball, but the Freiburg players did not succeed in taking advantage of the opportunity.
After the difficult start, the advantage shifted to Trabzonspor, which intensified its offensive attempts in search of an equaliser, and wasted a number of opportunities, most notably Egyptian Mohamed Salah’s shot from inside the penalty area, which passed just over the crossbar.
The pressure of the Turkish team continued in the second half, with noticeable activity from Albanian Ernest Muchi and Salah, while the left defender Eskihelac had another opportunity, but it did not translate into a goal.
Nigerian striker Paul Onuachu called for a penalty kick after being pushed during a cross ball inside the Freiburg penalty area, but the referee indicated that play should continue after a quick review with the video assistant referee (VAR) team.
On the other hand, Freiburg tried to exploit the spaces left by the hosts' rush through counterattacks, but they lacked effectiveness in front of goal, maintaining their lead until the final whistle.
Trabzonspor will host Bulgarian CSKA Sofia in the next round, while Freiburg will host its Dutch counterpart, Twente.
In the rest of the round's matches, Sweden's Mialbo defeated Bosnia's Borac Banja Luka with two clean goals, raising its score to seven points and temporarily topping the overall standings, while the Bosnian team's score froze at three points in nineteenth place.
Lincoln Red Imps, representing Gibraltar, achieved its first victory in the competition by defeating Hajduk Split of Croatia with an unanswered goal, raising its score to three points in twentieth place, compared to six points for the Croatian team in tenth place.
Cuban's confrontation with Finland's Palosioura and Belgium's Gent also ended in a goalless draw, while Italy's Atalanta snatched a difficult draw at home against Kazakhstan's Kairat, with a score of 1-1.
The Kazakh team took the lead through Spaniard Mark Gual in the 53rd minute, before Montenegrin Nikola Krstovic equalized for Atalanta, saving his team from losing in front of its fans.
Frenchman Pierre Sage, coach of English Crystal Palace, confirmed that his team deserved to go out with a draw against its German guest, Hoffenheim, after snatching a fatal 1-1 draw on Thursday, in the fourth round of the European Football League.
Crystal Palace fell behind by an early goal, but continued its attempts to recover the result despite having to complete the final minutes with ten players, before Japanese Daiichi Kamada succeeded in scoring the equalizer during stoppage time.
Sage said, in the press conference after the match, according to what was reported by the club’s official website: “Under this scenario, conceding an early goal was difficult, as we had to press to get back the result.”
He added: “We created chances during the match, and so did the opponent. Dean Henderson preserved our chances thanks to his saves, so it is difficult to say that one party had a complete advantage over the other, but we stayed in the atmosphere of the match and were able to score in the end.”
The French coach praised the spirit of his players, saying: “I think they deserved this point because they did not give up, and this is the most important aspect that I want to keep from this evening.”
Regarding his team’s performance, Saj explained: “On the offensive level, we performed better compared to our previous two matches, but we must continue to improve defensively, because we gave the opponent large spaces.”
He continued: “Sometimes we face difficulties in individual confrontations and bilateral conflicts, which allowed them to create opportunities. When we exaggerate in defense, we lose our ability to impose our presence in the match, while we become defensively exposed when we try to attack. The challenge is to find the balance between the two things.”
Sag pointed out that the team suffered in recent matches from difficulties in building attacks, citing the match against Fulham, during which Crystal Palace scored a late goal despite the lack of chances it created.
He said: “We can defend better, and we can defend as a team when we fall back, but whenever we succeed in solving a problem, a new problem appears that we have to deal with.”
He stressed the importance of possessing the ball as the most appropriate method for his team, adding: “I believe that the best approach for this team is to possess the ball and do so effectively, which is what we showed this evening.”
Speaking about the fighting spirit of the players, Sage said: “The important thing in such situations is to stand firm and keep up the pressure. We pressed until the last minute and succeeded in creating chances.”
He concluded his statements: “It is important to remember that we tried throughout the match to get back the result, which we succeeded in in the end. We may even have had opportunities to achieve a better result.”
With this draw, Crystal Palace raised its score to five points from four matches, after achieving one win and two draws against one loss, continuing its quest to qualify for the knockout rounds of the continental competition.
Jesús Awono, the goalkeeper of the Equatorial Guinea national team and the Spanish club Andorra, asked to be excused from participating in his country’s two matches against Zimbabwe, in the qualifiers for the 2027 African Cup of Nations, days after the tragic accident that witnessed the death of Jesús de Miguel, the Tenerife player, following a collision between them during a match in the Spanish second division.
Italian Vincenzo Alberto Anisi, the coach of the Equatorial Guinea national team, confirmed that Owono's absence from the summoned list came at the personal request of the goalkeeper, who preferred to stay with his club Andorra during the international break, to maintain his starting place and competitive readiness.
Anisi explained, in statements reported by the Moroccan newspaper Al-Mukhtab, that Owono submitted an official request to the federation and the technical staff to obtain permission to be absent from the two matches, out of his desire to continue participating with his team during the current period.
The goalkeeper was included in the preliminary list of the national team in preparation for the two matches against Zimbabwe, before he asked to be excluded, which was agreed upon by the technical staff.
This decision comes after the incident that took place in the match between Andorra and Tenerife in the Spanish Second Division, when Auno collided with De Miguel during the last minutes of the match, which led to the latter’s death as a result of the injury.
The incident caused shock in Spanish football circles, while Auno chose to stay with his club at this stage instead of joining his country’s national team.
