The Pride & Passion of Europa League Matchday Three
Irish minnows Dundalk went mightily close to causing a huge upset on a night that saw Austira Wien shock Roma with a stunning comeback in Italy
The Pride and Passion of the UEFA Europa League returned on Thursday night for another mouth-watering evening of twists and turns across the continent.
211 places split 15th place Zenit from Dundalk in the UEFA rankings. So the hosts were understandably in dreamland when UEFA man-of-the-match Robbie Benson put them in front shortly after the break. A late turnaround denied the Irish side a historical upset but once again they more than did themselves proud.
Having been victorious in just one of their previous ten meetings against Italian teams, the Austrians would gladly have settled for a point in Rome ahead of Thursday’s showdown. But, after finding themselves 3-1 down with just eight minutes remaining, their late double secured a 3-3 draw that felt like a win for the players and their travelling supporters.
Former France international Hoarau has found his sizeable feet since joining Swiss giants Young Boys and his remarkable goalscoring run continued as the 6’4” hitman fired all three goals to seal a comfortable 3-1 victory over APOEL. Hoarau’s heroics ended a run of four European games without win for Young Boys and puts them right back in contention for the knockout stage.
Yevhen Konoplyanka picked a fine moment to grab his first goal for Schalke, making it a trip to remember for the fans who travelled over 1,500 miles from Gelsenkirchen to Krasnodar. The Ukraine international and his colleagues gave their dedicated faithful a hearty round of applause for lending their incredible support on a night that ended with the Bundesliga club sitting pretty at the top of Group I.
