Post Match Reactions - Round 9

[JB@Norwich]

Missing


Errors

Error Watch

[Ian]

Celtic 2-1 Villarreal

The scoreline suggests that this was a closely fought affair but the facts are it wasn't. Celtic ran out easy winners in the end despite us having a tactical advantage throughout, an indication of what we are up against. After going a goal down we did pull the tie back level by half time albeit against the run of play. The home side though eased back into the lead shortly after the interval and to top off a miserable day for us we lost our star man thanks to a second yellow card ten minutes before the final whistle.

[Sam@Bilbao]

Celtic 2-1 Villarreal

"Villarreal got their setup spot on tonight and id expect as much from a good manager, we were just too strong for them with our squad and it could of probably been more but the yellow submarine fought very well and it made for a nervy affair, Dembele has been sensational since coming in and another MOTM performance tonight is what we have come to expect over just a few short games for Ousmane, 2 very tough games in the league coming up after the DBC tomorrow, they ought to show us where we are at as a team so thats something for the fans to look forward to"

[Sanchez@Cardiff]

Valencia 2-3 Sheffield United

Valencia were left to rue missed chances as they fell to a 3-2 defeat to Sheffield United at the Mestalla Stadium.

The hosts had the better of the first half and took the lead through Bryan Iglesias in the second minute. Rodrigo doubled their advantage four minutes later, but Sheffield United pulled one back through Max Philipp before the break.

The visitors equalised in the 25th minute through Andrea Belotti, and the Italian striker added his second goal of the game just five minutes later to give the visitors the lead.

Valencia pressed for their own equaliser in the second half, but they were unable to find a way through the Sheffield United defence even when they went down to 10 men in the 54th minute.

The result leaves Valencia in seventh place in the Conference, while Sheffield United move up to first.

Man of the Match: Andrea Belotti (Sheffield United)

Valencia's best player: Serge Gnabry

Key stats:

• Attempts on Goal : 20 | 26
• Off target : 11 | 11
• On target : 9 | 15
• Possession : 54 | 46
• Corners : 4 | 4
• Red Cards : 0 | 1
• Yellow Cards : 1 | 2
• Subs Used : 3 | 0
• Fouls : 7 | 10
• Key Tackles : 4 | 7
• Key Passes : 13 | 21

What's next?

Valencia host Portuguese side FC Porto at the Mestella on Thursday evening, while Sheffield United host Celtic.

[Tim@Leeds]

Porto 0 - 1 Frankfurt

It was completely obvious we would be facing a C today and I kept considering adjusting our tactics accordingly but made the wrong decision and surrendered the tactical advantage to a side that are better than us on paper. In the end it was just too weighted to them and this one is on me. I should have changed things up and maybe could have gotten something from this game.

No complaint's, we didn't deserve anything from this and didn't get anything.

Played Anthony.

[Guest]

Porto 0-1 Frankfurt

As Tim stated, we went for the TA. We just felt, even though we haven't played well using C, that we needed any advantage we could get against a very strong side and manager. Tim's perhaps being a bit harsh on his assessment as the stats were very even and in truth this could've gone either way. I think, despite us starting a 16 rater, the strength of our backline got us through today. GG mate, I fully expect Porto right up there come end of season.

[ChrisS]

Monaco 1 - 2 Schalke

First EFL win. New signing Saul Niguez was man of the match. The game was evenly matched with both teams playing E from the outset. Recent history has shown that we typically are not the best at seeing at match through. a 62nd minute strike by Castellanos saw us break the deadlock. With 30 minutes left it was a nail bitter as the home squad made some adjustments to try and salvage a point. A tactical change on our part was enough to counter the threat and hold on.

Good game John. Could have gone either way.

[Steve@Chelsea]

Nottingham Forest 2 - 0 Feyenoord

Deserved home win at the City Ground againt one of the teams last season did quite well. Striker B_Johnson with both goals which brings a second spin on the win to the team who was grounded to the foot of the table last week. In 16th spot now and 5 points above the bottom now, so we must start looking up. It's going to be a tough ask though as the gulf in class is apparant between the top sides in the division like Celtic and Frankfurt who would be lower mid table in EFL1 if they was in that league now!

Forest will continue to scrap away though. GG Nick.

[Guest]

Leicester City 3 - 2 West Brom

Another game another negative tactic, thankfully we are used to this by now with the experiances faced at Inter and again like all the other games so far we have been on top from the get go except this time we managed to score which has been an issue. it was a strange game we raced into a lead and then concede two and go in at half time 2-1 down even though the stats suggest how one sided in our favour it was but come the second half we were relentless, scoring twice and turning the screw on Fulham who were perhaps lucky to escape with only the three goals lost, form is good although we either have issues in front of goal or issues at the back which if we are to mount a challange need cut out. gg Frank

[Neil@Fiorentina]

PSV 0-0 Ajax

If this was on TV I'd have switched it off after 10 minutes! Only 4 shots on target between us in the match, not quite the exciting Dutch derby it could have been. We anticipated the long ball tactics of the opposition, and tried to switch things up to be more adventurous, but nothing made much difference. Oh well, feels like 2 points dropped given how close things are at the top end, but Ajax are a decent side. Gg dude.