Itโs safe to say that this week has not been great for the Eredivisie sides in Europe. After Ajax lost heavily in the Champions League and PSV grabbed a point against Bayer Leverkusen, it was over to the sides in Europeโs two other competitions to try and pick up some coefficient points. With Belgium closing in, the Eredivisie clubs could do with taking advantage of having a larger number of clubs competing this season. However, it was another disappointing night in Europe.
Utrecht travelled to Bergen to face Brann hoping to get their league campaign going after an opening day defeat to Lyon. However, they failed to take some huge chances, with David Min missing a glorious chance in the first half. Icelandic striker Saevar Atli Magnusson then punished Min and co just before half-time to give the Eliteserien side the lead. Brann, managed by former Kortrijk head coach Freyr Alexandersson, held on to continue Utrechtโs run of five games without a win.
The only bright spark in a disappointing night for Dutch football came in Greece. Panithanaikos were heavy favourites against Go Ahead Eagles in Athens and looked to have taken control of the game when Karol Swiderski gave them the lead 10 minutes into the second half. However, within seven minutes Dean James and Milam Smit had turned it around. The former provided two assists for the latter as Go Ahead Eagles grabbed their first win in the Europa League this season and were the only Dutch side to win this week.
Feyenoord faced an out of form Aston Villa but were unable to overcome their Premier League opposition. Despite dominating the chances with 19 shots on target, Aston Villa scored two of their six to win 2-0. Marco Bizot was certainly the busier of the two goalkeepers, with the former AZ man making eight saves on the night. Like Utrecht, Feyenoord have now lost both of their opening games in the Europa League.
Over in the Conference League AZ suffered an embarrassing 4-0 defeat in Cyprus. AEK Larnaca thrashed Maarten Martens side who were already on the back foot after two minutes when Alexandre Penetra was sent off. Going in 1-0 down at half-time gave the away side a chance, but they were well beaten by the end of the 90 minutes. AEK finished with an xG of 2.72 and 22 shots on goal. Pressure will be on AZ to put things right when they welcome Telstar in the Eredivisie on Sunday afternoon.
GBeNeFNย |ย Ben Jackson
