Europa Conference League: Fiorentina and Lech Poznan secure first-leg wins in last 16
Fiorentina - Sivasspor 1-0
Fiorentina kept up their formidable record against Turkish opposition, with a 1-0 Europa Conference League last-16 first-leg victory against Sivasspor - securing their sixth victory from seven conquests against sides from Turkey.
With Fiorentina such heavy favourites to win this game, the emphasis was on them somewhat to take the game to Sivasspor. They did that from the off, and ought to have nosed ahead inside the opening ten minutes when Nicolas Gonzalez freed Luka Jovic, but the Serbian’s cute chipped effort was gratefully received by Sivasspor stopper Ali Sasal Vural.
La Viola came even closer minutes later, in some fashion too, when a checky Gaetano Castrovilli flick forced Vural into action again to tip his effort onto the bar.
It would perhaps be unfair to suggest frustration was beginning to creep into the Fiorentina ranks, but when Giacomo Bonaventura marched clear on goal and fell to the same plight as Jovic earlier, you did start to wonder whether it would be their night.
If that’s how it felt to Fiorentina, it felt a whole lot different to Sivasspor, who sensed the chance to produce a shock result and came within a lick of paint of doing so when Dimitrios Goutas’ header crashed back off the upright.
That was Sivasspor’s one true chance of the night, and they were made to pay for fluffing it just moments after when Antonin Barak was quickest to react to a bout of penalty box pinball to slam home a long-awaited Fiorentina opener.
In truth, Sivasspor never really looked like netting an equaliser, though that certainly wasn’t for the wants of trying considering boss Riza Calimbay threw caution to the wind with a bout of attack-minded substitutes.
Fiorentina will be slightly disappointed only to be taking a single-goal advantage to Turkey for the second leg next week, and nothing highlighted their desperation for a second goal more than Arthur Cabral’s humiliating dive in a desperate bid to win a penalty.
It’s all to play for in the second leg, but after winning just one of their three Conference League home group games, Sivasspor have their work cut out if they’re to prolong their furthest-ever jaunt in UEFA competition and they’ll have to do so without Max Gradel, who was dismissed in the dying moments.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina)
Basel - Slovan Bratislava 2-2
Malik Abubakari’s 70th-minute header rescued a draw for Slovan Bratislava in their round-of-16 first-leg tie against Basel to extend their Conference League unbeaten run to five games.
Seeking revenge against a Slovan Bratislava side that beat them 2-0 back in October, Basel got off to the best possible start, finding the back of the net through Zeki Amdouni, who pounced on the rebound of Dan Ndoye’s initial effort to tap home inside the bottom left-hand corner with just six minutes played.
In finding the back of the net, Amdouni also extended Basel’s run without a goalless game in the tournament to a remarkable 22 games.
However, Slovan weren’t going to surrender at the very ground that brought them Cup Winners’ Cup glory in 1969, and levelled in the 17th minute via Jurij Medvedev’s sweeping effort past Marwin Hitz, following Vladimir Weiss’ superbly inch-perfect pass into the area.
But the hosts were a different animal compared to October’s match and retook the lead before halftime. Doing the honours was Basel’s top European goal scorer this season, Andi Zeqiri, who broke in behind to net from close range in the 40th minute for his sixth European goal of 2022/23.
Slovan Bratislava faced an uphill battle when it came to mounting a comeback, given Basel’s record of five second-half clean sheets in their last six European games at home. Though five of those games resulted in victories for Basel, Slovan were not going to simply accept a drab end to their four-game unbeaten run in Europe.
More determined than ever to defy their standing as tournament outsiders, they managed to peg Basel back once more, this time through Abubakari, who rose highest to head into the bottom right-hand corner in the 70th minute.
The visitors very nearly ran away with another victory in Basel too, with one gilt-edged chance falling the way of Tigran Barseghyan, who mistimed a headed effort to nod narrowly wide of the post late on.
Perhaps wary of losing the initiative ahead of the second leg in Slovakia, both teams then seemingly settled for the 2-2 draw in a cagey endgame, which saw Slovan Bratislava deny Basel victory at St. Jakob-Park for a second time this season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Andi Zeqiri (Basel)
Gent - Basaksehir 1-1
Amidst a torrential downpour, KAA Gent and İstanbul Basaksehir ground out a 1-1 draw in their round of 16 first-leg clash at the Ghelamco Arena, keeping this tie on a knife-edge ahead of next week’s showdown.
Despite contending with heavy rain and a muddy pitch in East Flanders, as well as a Gent side beaten just once at home since mid-October, Basaksehir didn’t waste time gaining control of the contest and settled in their hosts’ half.
Just as it did on their last trip to Belgium - which saw them run out 3-1 victors at Antwerp in August - the Turkish visitors’ dominance was quickly rewarded, thanks to Stefano Okaka, as the veteran forward took advantage of a beautiful cross from Serdar Gurler to head the ball home.
The hosts visibly woke up after that setback, and Malick Fofana in particular grew as the game progressed, eventually going on to be the indirect provider of Gent’s equaliser.
Still seeking his first Conference League assist since getting two against Shamrock Rovers in September, the youngster embarked on a deadly run down the left wing and put in a low cross to set up Gift Orban, who pounced on a goalkeeper mistake and a rebound to even things up 10 minutes before halftime.
With Gent having ended the first half boasting a clear 58% majority of the possession, there was widespread expectation that they would emerge stronger after the break. However, the start of the second half was similar to the opening 45 minutes, as Basaksehir pushed the lines forward and rediscovered some of the intensity they showcased in the early stages of the contest.
But with the condition of the pitch fast resembling Derby’s old Baseball Ground in the 1970s, not even a prime Lionel Messi could have strung two passes together, as the game descended into a slog on a bog.
Gent arguably ended the match with more hope of snatching it, and Laurent Depoitre’s high and looping header almost caught out Volkan Babacan shortly before the 90’ was up, but nobody was surprised to see this one end all-square.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Serdar Gurler (Istanbul Basaksehir)
Lech Poznan - Djurgarden 2-0
Lech Poznan ended Djurgardens IF unbeaten run in this season's Conference League with a hard-fought 2-0 win thanks to a sensational first-half Antonio Milic header and a well-taken Filip Marchwinski goal.
National pride was on the line as Poland’s Lech Poznan and Sweden’s Djurgardens IF went head-to-head as the last remaining clubs from their respective nations in any 2022/23 UEFA competition.
The Swedish side's venture into the Conference League had so far been very successful, with Kim Bergstrand's team going unbeaten and finishing top of Group F with an impressive 16 points.
However, it didn’t look like Djurgardens would be in for such an easy time here, Poznan came flying out of the blocks and almost took the lead when Filip Szymczak dribbled past two players before drilling a low shot towards the left corner but Jacob Widell Zetterstrom was well equal to it to make a good save.
The hosts made their deserved breakthrough thanks to a Joel Pereira free-kick that found Milic in plenty of space to power a bullet header into the top corner to make it 1-0 at the break.
The visitors had a far more promising start to the second half, formulating a string of good chances and finally testing the opposition's defence. Both Magnus Eriksson and Joel Asoro found excellent space in the penalty area and yet neither of the midfielders could place their efforts on target.
Marchwinski wrapped up the first leg for the hosts with only ten minutes remaining, when he combined with fellow substitute Adriel Ba Loua to skip past the Djurgardens defence and coolly slot the ball into the bottom corner.
After falling two goals behind, Djurgardens struggled to get back into the game and settled for the 2-0 defeat, leaving themselves with a lot to do in the return leg if they had any chance of progressing to the last eight of a UEFA competition for the first time in their history.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Antonio Milic (Lech Poznan)