GD Estoril-Praia 3 : 3 PSV Eindhoven - PSV progress in delayed encounter

Posted Saturday, November 29, 2014 by PA

PSV Eindhoven overcame a delay in their Group E game against Estoril to claim a 3-3 draw and finally secure their place in the Europa League knockout stages.

Goals from Toze Marreco, Kuca and Diogo Amado gave Estoril a 3-2 lead at the end of a remarkable first half on Thursday evening, in which PSV had led twice in the first quarter of an hour through Memphis Depay and Luciano Narsingh.

But large areas of the playing surface at Praia's Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota began to flood, meaning the match had to conclude on Friday afternoon and PSV's Eredivisie game against Feyenoord, originally scheduled for Sunday, was moved to Tuesday evening.

They had to battle until the closing stages of the second half before Georginio Wijnaldum fired them into the last 32 with a game to spare.

With Dynamo Moscow having won the group after beating Panathinaikos on Thursday, Estoril and PSV were battling for the second qualifying place with the hosts needing a win to keep their chances alive.

They trailed when Depay met Narsingh's right-wing cross with a low right-footed finish at the back post but equalised when Toze ran on to Junior Seba's long pass and fired into the roof of the net via a deflection.

It took only two minutes for Narsingh to restore PSV's lead as he controlled Jetro Willems' astute pass and fired home right-footed.

But when Narsingh fouled Kuca, the Cape Verde international exacted full revenge by heading Toze's free-kick high past goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet and Amado then converted Kuca's cross to give Estoril a half-time lead.

A half-time post from PSV on video-sharing site Vine showed the sodden state of the pitch, accompanied by the message: "The pitch has become a swimming pool. Match suspended."

Friday's resumption saw Estoril win an early corner, from which PSV broke away only for Wijnaldum to shoot wide.

Kuca fired over at the other end but Willems had a shot saved by Pawel Kieszek, who then had to be at his best to tip over Luuk de Jong's volley.

Zoet saved from Toze and Junior Seba's effort was blocked by Santiago Arias, while in between times De Jong headed Willems' corner over.

Chances continued to come at both ends, Kleber testing Zoet before Arias forced a reaction save from Kieszek.

The Pole also blocked Depay's effort but was left helpless when a defensive mix-up allowed Wijnaldum to go through and score the equaliser.

That left Estoril needing to chase a winner and they came close when Amado met Rafael's corner, the ball eventually dropping to Kleber who fired over.

Kuca was also off-target as Estoril were unable to restore their lead, meaning PSV qualified in second place.