BBC NEWS; An early red card proves costly for FC Twente as they lose 0-2 to Lazio in Europa League.

FC Twente goalie Lars Unnerstall received an early red card on Thursday night, and the Tukkers fell 0-2 to SS Lazio in the Grolsch Veste. Pedro and Gustav Isaksen scored goals to give Italy the win.

The home team gave it their best and were cheered off the ground by the stadium audience after the final whistle. Prior to the game, the job appeared to be difficult, since Lazio had won their first two tournament matches.

It became considerably more difficult when they were reduced to ten men within the first ten minutes. Goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall rushed out of his goal too late, bringing down Boulaye Dia and earning him a red card.

The Italians attacked early, hitting the post in the 26th minute.  Marusic’s cross went over every player in the box before rebounding off the goalpost.

Lazio took the lead halfway through the first half. Matias Vecino got space on the wing and capitalized by making a precise ball inside the box to Pedro, who tapped it into an empty net. Twente believed they had gotten away with it at first when the linesman called for offside, but the VAR authority overruled the call.

Twente sat back, but it made little difference against the Romans, who continued to create opportunities. Loum Tchaouna’s excellent backheel created an opportunity for center-back Samuel Gigot, but replacement goalkeeper Przemysław Tytoń stopped the shot.

The visiting team squandered a huge opportunity to increase their advantage in the 49th minute. Vecino once again provided for Luca Pellegrini with an excellent cross. The fullback got a free shot from close range, but he struck the crossbar.

Pellegrini missed another opportunity immediately after, but he produced it himself with a superb piece of skill that took out two defenders. This resulted in a volley opportunity, but he used too much strength and it went over the net.

The crowd in Enschede was already dissatisfied with the referee’s performance, and he almost made matters worse when he awarded the Italian team a penalty in the 74th minute. Mees Hilgers was called for fouling Taty Castellanos, but the defender immediately made the VAR motion, claiming that he had just won the ball. This proved to be the case, and the penalty was cancelled.

With the game still tied at 0-1, Twente opted to go on the offensive in the final moments to force a draw. However, Lazio promptly punished this by scoring their second goal of the game. Pedro found Fisayo Dele-Bashiru behind the Twente defenders, and he dribbled as far as he could before passing to Gustav Isaksen, who converted the chance to end the game.

This was Twente’s first setback in the Europa League this season, although they remain winless. They have the opportunity to correct this when they meet OGC Nice in two weeks. The French squad had two draws and one loss, with the latter coming against Ferencvaros on the same evening.

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