Hibs 2-3 Gent: Coefficient Takes Another Beating as Hibs Crash Out
As Hibs were looking likely to progress, two late goals by the Belgian side ended the Hibees’ European dream. Gent had the first chance after just four minutes — a cross into the box saw Gent find the net, but the goal didn’t stand following a foul on Sallinger. Moments later, Boyle had a chance from inside the box, but a brilliant deflection denied Hibs the opener. A sloppy error in the middle of the park by Chaiwa allowed the Belgian side to get an attack going. Gent were unable to get the ball into the box, which was blocked and out for a corner, but Gent were unable to make anything of it. Twenty-three minutes in, Gent almost had a chance, but multiple players all collided at once, which saw off any potential chance for the visitors. Lowe had a chance for the Hibees on 27 minutes, striking with his weaker foot, but ultimately smashing well over the target, as both sides continued to battle for an opener. Gent shortly had a chance, an attempt from just inside the box, but it was a simple catch for the Hibernian number one. Vergara had a big chance on 36 minutes — a cross into the box found the head of the Gent striker, but the header was straight into the gloves of Sallinger, which was a simple catch for the Hibs number one. The Belgian side went ahead on 39 minutes. A low cross into the box found Vergara, who took a nice touch, spun around with brilliant control, and struck a composed effort into the bottom left-hand corner, as the Hibees trailed in the tie. Hibs moments later had a chance, as Boyle, on the left-hand side, cut onto his right and fired a strike towards goal, but Roef did well to deny the equaliser. As half-time was blown, performance-wise it wasn’t a bad half for Hibs, but it was the Belgian side who took their chance when it came, whereas Hibs hadn’t tested Roef enough. They would look to salvage an equaliser in the second 45. Into the second period, Hibs quickly responded [as written, this sentence isn’t quite clear — it says the shot “was stopped by Boyle, which fooled the keeper,” then says Boyle reclaimed the ball and scored, which reads as though Boyle stopped his own teammate’s shot. You may want to check whether this should say the shot was saved by the keeper, with Boyle reclaiming the rebound]. After a VAR check, the goal was ruled out following a handball in the build-up by Nathan Lowe. Hibs were level on 56 minutes, as a ball was whipped into the back post by Jamie McGrath, where Jason Kerr was lurking and powerfully headed home to give Hibs a deserved equaliser — Kerr’s first goal for the Edinburgh side. A better second-half display by David Gray’s men, as both sides continued to battle for a winner, with both eager to avoid an additional 30 minutes. Passlack fired the Hibees in front with 13 minutes to spare — a brilliant piece of individual play by the former Dortmund man, who found a low, powerful strike from a tight angle into the bottom left-hand corner, sending the Hibs supporters behind the net into mayhem. Burgess levelled the game up late on, following a corner whipped into the box, where the former Ipswich man smashed the ball into the centre of the net to bring the game to 2-2. Gent delivered a massive blow in stoppage time, as Seck made a goal-bound, darting run and slotted it across goal, where Chaiwa turned it into his own net — a big blow for Hibs. It kept going downhill as Chaiwa was shown red very late on, as Gent looked likely to progress and dump Hibs out. Overall, not good enough by Hibs, as boos rang around the ground, Gent progressed, and Hibs’ European tour came to an end and now it’s just Celtic and Hearts playing European League phase football. Hibernian: Sallinger (6), Obita (5), O’Hora (5), Kerr (7), Passlack (7), Mulligan (8), Chaiwa (4), Mayor (7), McGrath(8), Boyle (8), Lowe (6). Substitutes: Suto(6), Wright (6), Megwa (6). KAA Gent: Roef (7), Ngom (7), Burgess (8), van der Heyden (7), Araujo (8), Delorge (8), De Vlieger (7), Volckaert (6), Kadri (7), Sonko (7), Vergara (8). Substitutes: Seck(6), Wilson (7), Cisse (6), Lopes (6), Benes (6).
Rangers Miss Out in European Football Following Defeat
Rangers European adventure come to a crashing end after defeat in Czech Republic. Overall, another big shock in terms of results on the European stage, as Derek McInnes’ side failed to make any form of European football this campaign following a 4-3 defeat on penalties. Rangers began their European adventure in Poland but dropped into the Conference League play-offs after a 3-2 aggregate defeat to Jagiellonia, which saw Rangers drawn against Jablonec in the Conference League. Despite a 1-0 win at Ibrox in the first leg, Rangers went 1-0 down late into the second leg, forcing extra time, which would prove costly ahead of the long trip down the A92 to the Granite City on Sunday for the visit to Pittodrie. Unfortunately for Rangers, they were unable to draw level in extra time, meaning a penalty shoot-out awaited the Gers. Following the penalty shoot-out, Rangers were unable to come away as winners, as the Czech side confirmed their place in this season’s UEFA Conference League. It was a tie in which you’d have favoured the Ibrox side to get through, but a lack of quality in the final third really cost the Glasgow side, as Rangers failed to reach the European league phase. All eyes now turn to Sunday’s trip to Pittodrie to face Aberdeen, with full concentration switching to the league and Scottish League Cup. A very disappointing week for Scottish sides as Celtic somehow, dropped to Europa League after throwing away a 4-0 lead, Motherwell dropping out after defeat to Freiburg which it’s fair to say, it was expected after a brilliant European campaign by the Steelmen although Hearts did progress into the Conference League, League phase and of course, Hibernian are still to play, welcoming Gent to Easter Road.
English sides discover their UCL opponents.
Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Manchester United find out their league phase opponents. Arsenal: Real Madrid (H) Bayern Munich (A) Borussia Dortmund (H) Real Betis (A) Lille (H) Napoli (A) Sabah (H) Slavia Praha (A) Manchester City: PSG (H) Barcelona (A) Sporting Lisbon (H) Porto (A) Napoli (H) RB Leipzig (A) AEK Athens (H) Lens (A) Liverpool: Atletico Madrid (H) Inter Milan (A) Porto (H) Club Brugge (A) Villarreal (H) Fenerbahce (A) Lens (H) LASK (A) Aston Villa: PSG (H) Barcelona (A) Borussia Dortmund (H) Club Brugge (A) Fenerbahce (H) Galatasaray (A) Viking (H) Slavia Praha (A) Manchester United: Bayern Munich (H) Atletico Madrid (A) Roma (H) Sporting Lisbon (A) RB Leipzig (H) Villarreal (A) Sabah (H) Como (A) The exact dates for these fixtures will be confirmed in due course, but the matches will take place across these dates: MW1: September 8-10 MW2: October 13-14 MW3: October 20-21 MW4: November 3-4 MW5: November 24-25 MW6: December 8-9 MW7: January 19-20 MW8: January 27
Johansson Wants Fearless Motherwell in Freiburg Decider
Alfred Johansson has urged his Motherwell side to focus on the things they can control as they look to overturn a 3-1 deficit and reach the UEFA Conference League group stage. “The message has been that this week we’re going to try to do our thing,” said the Swede. “When we do our thing, that’s when we are at our best. The main thing is that we need to stay true to ourselves as much as possible. “The mindset is that whenever we play a game of football, we want to perform to the best of our ability, with our style of play at the forefront of our minds. That’s what we’re here to do, to be as good as we can.” The Steelmen made a dream start in the first leg, with Regan Charles-Cook sending the home support into raptures after converting Emmanuel Longelo’s cross. However, a double from World Cup winner Matthias Ginter, a header from Keisuke Goto, and a red card for Martin Moormann left Johansson’s side with a mountain to climb heading into the return leg in Germany. But after giving last season’s Europa League finalists a serious scare, Johansson has called on his players to show bravery at the Europa-Park Stadion. “Sometimes I think people tend to put more emphasis on the result than on what we do ourselves,” he said. “Obviously, we want to do well and achieve great results, but we know that what we can control are our performances and behaviours on the pitch. “It’s about recognising that we can perform at a very high level and striving to reach that standard as often as possible. We don’t want to become overly cautious, sit deep, or try to protect ourselves during periods of the game. “We want to be brave.” Johansson was also asked about LASK’s miraculous five-goal comeback against Scottish champions Celtic on Tuesday. While he acknowledged that such stories could provide inspiration, his focus remains firmly on his own team. “There are millions of stories throughout football history that you can draw inspiration from if you want to, absolutely,” he added. “But I think we’re better off focusing on what we have to do. “The players and staff all believe we have a lot of quality, and we believe we have the capacity to do well. That’s where our focus is.”