Nigerian striker Rafiu Durosinmi continued his impressive form but experienced a painful defeat, scoring a goal in Viktoria Plzen’s 2-1 loss to Lazio in their Europa League round of 16 clash on Thursday.
Viktoria Plzen’s qualification for the round of 16 was largely due to Durosinmi’s outstanding performance, as he scored a brace against Ferencvaros to seal a 3-1 win on aggregates in the playoffs. In contrast, Lazio qualified automatically after finishing top of the league phase with 19 points.
Durosinmi’s recent performances earned him another start, and Viktoria Plzen began strongly, with Pavel Sulc scoring a disallowed goal in the 11th minute due to an offside call after a VAR check.
Lazio quickly responded, with Pedro’s corner kick finding Alessio Romagnoli who bundled the ball into the back of the net to give Lazio the lead which was maintained until halftime.
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In the second half, Viktoria Plzen started brightly, and their efforts paid off when captain Lukas Kalvach’s free kick found Durosinmi, who headed the ball home to level the scoreline in the 53rd minute.
Following the equalizing goal, Viktoria Plzen gained momentum, pressing resiliently and forcing Lazio into mistakes which eventually gave them an advantage when Nicolo Rovella was red-carded for a dangerous challenge in the 77th minute after a VAR review.
More drama ensued at the end of the game as Lazio were reduced to nine men following Samuel Gigot’s two-footed challenge on Cadu. However, the Italian side refused to give up, winning the game in the 98th minute as Gustav Isaksen received a pass from Matteo Guendouzi before firing a rocket into the top corner to seal the win for the away side.
Reeling from the disappointing defeat, Viktoria Plzen will be hoping to bounce back when they face Pardubice in the league before they travel to Italy to face Lazio for the second leg of the Europa league clash, hoping to secure a comeback that would ensure their qualification for the quarter finals of the tournament.
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