Cologne and Austria lose, Basel fights for a draw
There was nothing for Cologne in Group D of the UEFA Europa Conference League against Partizan in Belgrade either. Austria only had to admit defeat to Villarreal late in the game. FC Basel, on the other hand, saved a draw with a double and is now the leader of their group.
Villarreal and West Ham are still undefeated and will stay in Europe as well as İstanbul Başakşehir and Djurgården.
UEFA.com rounds up the action on Matchday 4.
Partizan – Cologne 2-0
After the first, the Cologne team also lost the second comparison with Partizan and thus lost further ground in the fight for entry into the knockout phase. After a largely disappointing performance, they lost 2-0 in Belgrade. After 15 minutes, Fousseni Diabate used a mistake by Timo Hübers to put the home side ahead. After the break, Ricardo Gomes scored the final score. The Cologne team were lucky that a shot by Queensy Menig hit the crossbar just before the break.
Austria Vienna – Villarreal 0:1
The Vienna Austria had to admit defeat in the home game against group favorites Villarreal. Coach Manfred Schmid’s team held up well against the semi-finalists from last season’s Champions League, but conceded the crucial goal from Nicolas Jackson three minutes before the end. A hibernation in the Europa Conference League has become extremely unlikely for the “Violets”.
In a high-scoring game in Slovakia, Basel initially led but looked certain to lose early in the second half before the visitors clinched a point. Darian Males gave the Swiss the lead after half an hour. In added time in the first half, Vladimír Weiss equalized with a penalty. Slovakian war nuns were involved and took a 3-1 lead within four minutes after the break through Juraj Kucka and Aleksandar Čavrić. Andy Diouf and Andi Zeqiri hit back a little later to secure a draw for the visitors.
Vaduz vs Dnipro-1 1:2
The Liechtensteiners showed a strong game against the team from Ukraine, are at the end but empty-handed and slide down to last place in Group E. After it had been 1-1 for a long time, Artem Dovbyk scored in added time to win the visitors. Previously, Dinipro-1 had taken the lead through Yanis Hamache in the 25th minute. Only a little later Elmin Rastoder was able to equalize for Vaduz.
Westham 2-1 Anderlecht
The Hammers are already firmly in the knockout stages of the competition thanks to two first-half goals. Saïd Benrahma gave London the lead with a stunning free-kick before Jarrod Bowen later made it 2-0. Sebastiano Esposito made things exciting again with his late penalty. But the guests from Belgium did not manage more than this goal.
Fiorentina – hearts 5:1
The team from Florence achieved a clear and significant victory against the Hearts in the fight for a place in the knockout stages of the competition. The visitors from Edinburgh had the first chance, however, when Stephen Humphrys hit the post. Then the Viola came into the running and scored four goals before the break through Luka Jović, Cristiano Biraghi, Nicolás González and Antonín Barák. Humphrys scored his goal after the restart. But it was the Italians who had the last word again, thanks to a penalty converted by González.
All results of the 4th matchdays
Group A: İstanbul Başakşehir 3-0 RFS, Fiorentina 5-1 Hearts
Group B: FCSB 0-5 Silkeborg, Westham 2-1 Anderlecht
Group C: Austria Vienna – Villarreal 0: 1, H. Beer-Sheva – Lech 1: 1
Group D: Partizan 2-0 Cologne, Nice 1-2 Slovakia
Group E: Apollon Limassol 1-0 AZ Alkmaar, Vaduz 1-2 Dnipro-1
Group F: Djurgården 4-2 Gent, Shamrock Rovers 0-2 Molde
group g: CFR Cluj 2-0 Slavia Praha, Ballkani 1-2 Sivasspor
group h: Slovan Bratislava 3-3 Basel, Žalgiris 2-1 Pyunik
All Matchday 5 fixtures (October 27)
Group A: Fiorentina – Istanbul Başakşehir (18:45), Hearts – RFS (21:00)
Group B: Anderlecht – FCSB (18:45), West Ham – Silkeborg (21:00)
Group C: Villarreal – H. Beer-Sheva (18:45), Austria Wien – Lech (18:45)
Group D: Slovakia – Cologne (18:45), Nice – Partizan (18:45)
Group E: Vaduz – AZ Alkmaar (18:45), Dnipro-1 – Apollon Limassol (21:00)
Group F: Molde – Djurgården (21:00), Shamrock Rovers – Ghent (21:00)
Group G: Ballkani – Slavia Praha (21:00), Sivasspor – CFR Cluj (21:00)
Group H: Basel – Žalgiris (21:00), Slovan Bratislava – Pyunik (21:00)