Miculescu strike spoils Eagles’ long-awaited European return
Go Ahead Eagles’ first taste of European football in almost six decades ended in heartbreak, as they slipped to a narrow 1-0 defeat at home to Romanian champions FCSB on their Europa League debut. For the visitors, it was a small slice of history too – back-to-back wins to start major European campaigns for the first time since the mid-2000s.
The night had been billed as a party in Deventer, and the hosts tried to play their part. But the early warning signs were there. Jari De Busser had to be sharp to deny both Denis Alibec and Darius Olaru in the opening minutes, before the breakthrough inevitably arrived. Alibec’s ball across the area took a fortunate bounce and dropped to David Miculescu, who controlled and hammered a sweet left-foot strike past De Busser on 13 minutes.
If the home fans feared a long night, the Eagles’ immediate response briefly lifted them. Mathis Suray forced a fine stop from Ștefan Târnovanu, and Mats Deijl followed up with another effort that the keeper palmed away. Victor Edvardsen then ought to have levelled but lashed over from a tight angle after meeting Jakob Breum’s clever free-kick. At the other end, Popescu should have killed the game before half-time, rising unmarked from Olaru’s free-kick but heading over.
The second half carried the same frantic feel, though the finishing continued to let both sides down. Olaru twice came close, while Suray fired wide and Breum danced into the box only to be thwarted by the in-form Târnovanu. With every missed chance the belief in the stands slowly ebbed away, and when Calvin Twigt ballooned a free-kick into the night sky, it felt like the chance had gone.
FCSB, sensing the hosts had run out of steam, shut the contest down in the closing stages, playing it smart and managing the game with ease. It was hardly vintage stuff from the Romanians, but effective enough to record only a fifth win in 15 tries against Dutch opposition.
For Go Ahead, it had all started with so much noise and energy, but the reality of European football bit hard by the final whistle. The three-match unbeaten run is gone, and so is the sense of invincibility at De Adelaarshorst. Their supporters, though, won’t have to wait another 60 years for another crack.