Rotterdam, Feb 27 (IANS) AS Roma eliminated Feyenoord in the last 32 of the Europa League by beating the home side 2-1 here with Feyenoord fans causing trouble in the stands and two red cards given to the home team.
Following demolitions by Dutch fans in Rome last week surrounding the first encounter between the two clubs (1-1), Feyenoord’s club board hoped the fans could behave this time. They did so prior to the match with no major incidents, reports Xinhua.
However, during the match, things went wrong. In the first half, referee Clement Turpin temporarily suspended the game for the first time for a banana thrown by Feyenoord fans towards Roma player Gervinho, may be with racist intent.
Feyenoord suffered another blow on the pitch when striker Colin Kazim-Richards, who scored the only Feyenoord goal last week in Rome, limped off with a hamstring injury.
Roma, which had already hit the post through a free-kick by Francesco Totti, took the lead at the stroke of half-time when Adem Ljajic finished a cross by Vassilis Torosidis at the far post.
Early in the second half, Mitchell te Vrede, who came on for Kazim-Richards, received a red card for a harsh tackle on Konstantinos Manolas. After that, the game was once again suspended by referee Turpin due to crowd disturbances by Feyenoord fans, who threw objects on to the field.
The match continued after a short break and with 10 against 11, Feyenoord managed to equal the score through substitute Elvis Manu. However, Roma restore the lead three minutes later when Gervinho finished another cross by Vassilis Torosidis. While Roma celebrated the goal, Feyenoord reserve goalkeeper Erwin Mulder was sent off with a red card.
With 1-2 down, Feyenoord had to score twice to go through to the last 16 but they failed. The Rotterdam giants are out of the Europa League and must fear for sanctions from Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
PSV Eindhoven also went out of the last 32. After a 0-1 loss in Eindhoven last week, the Dutch league leaders lost 0-3 to Zenit St. Petersburg Thursday in Russia.
Ajax were the only team to advance after a 3-0 win at Legia Warsaw, following the 1-0 win in Amsterdam last Thursday.