Union remains clear in the Europa League group stage after a well-deserved win against Malmö. The Belgian vice champion was in charge of the field, but was not on the scoreboard for a long time. A turnaround in 2 minutes – from 1-2 to 3-2 – gave Union more effort than necessary, then pay for work.
Union – Malmö in a nutshell:
- Key moment: Union turns the game upside down in two crazy minutes. Teuma equalizes with a very clever long shot and Malmö has not yet recovered well when Boniface makes it 3-2.
- Man of the match: His loss of the ball was the basis of the 1-2, but that was the only blemish on a very strong game by Teddy Teuma. He shook out one wonderful pass after another, gave the assist for the 1-1 and brought Union alongside a second time.
- Remarkable: Not the most resounding names at Malmö, but certainly two players who ring a bell with Belgian football fans. Lasse Nielsen (ex-AA Gent) and Isaac Kiese Thelin (ex-Anderlecht and ex-Waasland-Beveren) were in the starting line-up for the Swedish team tonight.
Union springs right after false start
After the win against the namesake from Berlin, Union started as a favorite against scoreless Malmö, but the match started dramatically for the Belgian vice-champion. Van der Heyden, Burgess and Kandouss let themselves out too easily in the duels and so Ceesay was able to give Malmö the lead early on.
A false start for Union, where the slightly injured Vanzeir started on the bench and Eckert was in the starting lineup. However, the home side did not have to chase for long. A rehearsed number on a corner turned in the soup, but in the aftermath Teuma still shook a delicious cross from his slippers and Burgess headed Union alongside 10 minutes after the 0-1.
Union came under steam, Malmö gasped. Dahlin had the greatest difficulty with Lynen’s ground-shattering shot and had to give in when Kandouss extended a free kick from Teuma into the goal. Nipped offside, however, and so it remained 1-1. Shortly before halftime, Kandouss came close to 2-1 with a nice deviation, Dahlin put a stop to it.
From 1-2 to 3-2 in two crazy minutes
Union continued on its momentum in the 2nd half. With another brilliant pass, Teuma Eckert offered a huge opportunity early on, but the German attacker finished off dramatically. Not much later, Teuma himself also had a low point, his loss of possession led to a Swedish counterattack. Beijmo thought the detached Thelin and the ex-player of Anderlecht gave Union a cold shower: 1-2.
A bit of a swallow for the home team, but halfway through the second half, Union put things in order. In less than two minutes it went up and over Malmö with two great goals. Teuma underlined his strong game and brought Union alongside with a nice long shot. Boniface immediately completed a one-two with Lapoussin controlled and powerful.
Union suddenly took the lead for the first time in the game and did not relinquish it. Substitute Nilsson even came close to 4-2, his shot went just wide. The devil was almost in the tail, Berget narrowly headed over on a free kick by Rieks. Union escaped and after two matchdays, they shine with 6 out of 6.
Van der Heyden: “Top mentality and fantastic goals”
Siebe Van der Heyden beamed after Union’s hard-fought victory. “This was such a typical game for Union. It’s a nice feeling to end it with a win. We deserve it too. Malmö didn’t have many chances, but finished well. Our mentality was great tonight, we also have fantastic scored goals.”
“We bring good football, but we have to be even more efficient and score faster. We still have to work on that. We also have to be much sharper from the first minute. Otherwise you can quickly concede a goal at this level. We gave it in the In the second half, that should not happen. We have to come out of the dressing room sharper.”
“6 out of 6 is nice, but we have to stay calm. There are still 4 games to play, a lot can still happen. We will have to stay at the level.”
Teuma: “Showed a lot of mental toughness”
- Senna Lynen: “We didn’t start well, but after that goal we came into the game better and took control. Even when we fell behind again, you saw that mentally we are a strong team that can get on top of that. We have to calm down. stay, there will now be a double confrontation with Braga. We have to try to hold on there and after the matches against Braga we can see where we are.”
- Victor Boniface: “We played a good game and showed a lot of fighting spirit. We came back twice from behind, this is a nice win for us. I scored a nice goal myself, although I can’t quite remember how it went. Now we have to We focus on the league match against Eupen, before the international break.”
- Teddy Teuma: “I would have preferred it to be a little less exciting, but the most important thing is that we won. We showed a lot of mental toughness, because it was not easy. We are very proud and satisfied. We should have shown a little more discipline in defence, “That was the downside tonight. I’m glad I could bring the team back into the game twice with my assist and my goal. This was a key game to stay in the running. Now we can play a little more liberated against Braga.”
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Minute after the equalizer, Boniface scores the 3-2 after great action
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Teuma scores the 2-2 for Union
