Red Star 2-2 Copenhagen: Riera Defends Dieng
Red Star turned the game around at the Marakana, then let the lead slip, and Stefan Gudelj was sent off in stoppage time. Riera is aiming for the Top 5.
“I told Gastarov he couldn’t score a goal like that in training,” said Red Star coach Albert Riera at the press conference, referring to the own goal by Matej Gastarov in the 29th minute. That goal gave Copenhagen the lead at the Rajko Mitic stadium, and the evening of October 22, in the second round of the Conference League, ended 2-2 and with Red Star’s first point in the competition.
How did the goals fall at the Marakana?
Red Star were the first to threaten. Stefan Gudelj shot from an angle in the 14th minute and sent the ball over the bar, and two minutes later Yuta Nakajama fired from the edge of the box and rattled the crossbar. Instead of taking the lead, the hosts got a cold shower: after a cross from Felix Beijm, Gastarov tried to clear the ball for a corner and put it into his own net.
The answer came within five minutes. Timi Max Elsnik struck from distance after a pass from Vladimir Lucic to make it 1-1. Most sources record the 34th minute, Vesti online says the 35th, and they differ on the distance too: 24sedam writes about 20 meters, Beta about 18. In the 41st minute Vasilije Kostov took a pass from Ristic and shot from an angle on the edge of the box for 2-1. Beta writes that the ball bounced in off the crossbar, 24sedam that it ended up in the top corner. Red Star went into the break in front.
After the restart Riera made no changes, and the starting lineup was the same as in Lugano, after two months of frequent rotation. Lucic shot from about 16 meters in the 53rd or 54th minute, but Copenhagen goalkeeper Diant Ramaj saved it, so that was not a second Red Star effort off the crossbar. The only crossbar that night remained Nakajama’s. Copenhagen got their equalizer in the 70th minute: Maher Karizo got away from Lucic and shot from distance, and according to Beta he hit the bottom left corner from about 25 meters.
What happened in stoppage time?
The referee added three minutes. The sources disagree about the last chance: Beta records that Bamba Dieng headed wide in the second minute of stoppage time, Vesti online and 24sedam speak of a missed chance for Dieng, and B92 of an opportunity Delaney had to win it for the visitors. In the third minute Stefan Gudelj was shown a straight red card for a foul on Dadason, so Red Star finished the match with ten men. Gudelj will miss the next Conference League match. According to 24sedam, about 12,000 people watched the game.
What did Riera say after the match?
He gave his first statement to TV Arena sport right after the final whistle, briefly:
“The thing is to score a goal and to be efficient. If you are not efficient, you cannot win. That’s it.”
He added that he sees no reason to worry because, as he put it, the team created chances:
“Yes, that’s it. My responsibility is for us to create chances. Our team created chances. Many chances, more than the opponent.”
At the press conference he was asked whether Dieng’s lack of efficiency is a problem. The striker also failed to score in Lugano, and Riera defended him: “I don’t kill players, quite the opposite. I will hug him, he needs a coach who supports him.”
He also spoke about the atmosphere in the stands: “This was not the best atmosphere today, I know it was not because of football, it’s not because of me because I don’t need support.” Criticism aimed at him, he said, does not bother him, but the players need support.
He does not see one point after two rounds as a burden: “We have 12 points up for grabs, with this one we can get to 13 and we are going for the Top 5.”
What is next for Red Star?
After two rounds Red Star have one point, following the defeat to Lugano in the opening round, while Copenhagen have four. We wrote on October 20 and 21 about the preview of this match, about the referee and the uncertain Lukasen, and now it is also clear that Riera goes into the next match without Gudelj. The red and whites host Inter Escaldes in Belgrade on November 5, and Copenhagen play Iberia.
Riera’s 13-point arithmetic for the Top 5 is his own, not a table fact. For now only one thing is known: without Gudelj, Red Star will have to find the net more often on November 5 than they did last night, because the crossbar and the stoppage-time chance were left without reward.
