More than 20,000 fans at “Jogeli” did not tire of loudly cheering their FC Basel after more than 120 minutes. FCB supporters had to wait patiently as kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes due to traffic jams and long overtime. Nerves were not spared: Brondby was 2-1 up after 90 and 0-1 down after 120 minutes in the first leg in Copenhagen and had to decide whether a penalty shoot-out would allow Basel to face the final hurdle. Conference League.
The first two Danes failed there – Josip Radosevic hit the crossbar and Youssef Sallech hit in the defeat of Marvin Hitz’s case. After Andy Diouf and Dan Ndo had both had efforts, substitute Basel player Adam Salai missed his innocuous shot, so things remained a delicate one. But as Darien Males went 3-1 up in Basel, Peter Bjur found his master in the heats in Copenhagen’s decisive try. Thus FCB could celebrate advancing to the playoffs of the conference league. Unnecessarily dramatic, but definitely deserved.
Critical point of opportunity exploitation
A “lottery” penalty shoot-out didn’t look too tempting for FCB. Alex Frey’s team rose to the occasion. Unlucky when Diouf’s (93′) brilliant finish hit the bar. Beyond the 100-minute limit, you need to pay homage to high intensity. Joker Salai (120th) Basel scare, as he was close to Brondby keeper Mads Hermansen, the logical consequence was: penalty shootout. A happy ending from Basel’s perspective.
The Swiss representative could and indeed had to clarify everything in due course. But Liam Miller (81) failed – with the Basel team’s 21st (!) goal – from short range against Hermansen, who responded strongly again. The Dane had already surprisingly lost against Seki Amduni (67). But despite the long 3:1 – 22:7 degrees and 7:1 corner kicks, it didn’t want to fall.
Two controversial penalty scenes
Immediately after kick-off, FC Basel showed that they are ready to make up for the 0-1 mortgage from the first quarter as soon as possible. Amduni lost to Hermansen in the third minute. After 8 minutes, the hosts were denied a possible penalty: Michael Lang’s speedy run ended up tripping his opponent, possibly illegally. But referee Christian Dingert’s whistle remained silent, and there is no VAR in qualification for the conference league. FCB missed a penalty in the first quarter. The Basel team didn’t give up and Andy Sekri hit the post again after a pointer after a good Amduni pass.
After the initial furioso of “Bebby” subsided a bit, the heat returned to St. Jacob’s Park in the 40th minute. But then things got worse:
- 40. Minutes: Miller starts sprinting down the left side. Henrik Heggeim touches the FCB youngster and he immediately falls to the ground. This time Dingert points to the point – a small compensation may be involved. Fabian Frey doesn’t really care: The FCB captain keeps his nerve from 11 metres.
- 46. Minutes: Basel happiness will not last long. Matthias Kvistgaarden is given remarkable freedom and lowers the ball from the left into the right corner of the goal.
- 50. Minutes: Basel benefits from the fact that overtime is 5 minutes. After a good Miller cross, Sekri made it 2-1 with his first goal in red and blue.
In the playoffs, the last hurdle before the final participation in the conference league, Basel meets CSKA Sofia. The side from the Bulgarian capital earned a 1-0 draw in the first leg with a 2-0 away win in St Patrick’s, Ireland.
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