Linssen double as N.E.C. come from behind to beat Omonia 3-1
Omonia led at the break through Loïs Diony, but Bryan Linssen scored twice and Clement Bischoff once as N.E.C. turned the Matchday 4 tie around.
By Harvey Watkins,
N.E.C. beat Omonia 3-1 at the Goffertstadion on Thursday evening in the Europa League. They did it the hard way, trailing at half-time and then scoring three times after the interval. Bryan Linssen was the central figure, with the equaliser and the goal that settled it. Clement Bischoff scored in between.
Omonia ahead through Diony
The visitors struck first. Loïs Diony put Omonia in front in the 23rd minute, and that was how it stayed until half-time. For a side travelling for a Matchday 4 fixture, a lead at the break is a strong position, and Omonia held it for 27 minutes in all. N.E.C. went in with work to do.
A quick reply after the restart
That work began almost at once. Linssen equalised in the 50th minute, five minutes into the second half. An early reply like that changes the shape of the half. It removes the pressure of the clock from the home side and hands the problem back to the visitors.
What followed was a long stretch at 1-1. For 24 minutes neither side scored, and through that period the match could have gone any way. A draw would not have been an unreasonable outcome from there, and Omonia were never more than one goal from going back in front.
Two goals in two minutes
The decisive passage came late and came quickly. Bischoff gave N.E.C. the lead in the 74th minute. Two minutes later Linssen scored again to make it 3-1. Within the space of 120 seconds or so, a finely balanced match became one Omonia had very little chance of rescuing.
That second goal mattered as much as the first. A single-goal lead with a quarter of an hour left invites pressure. A two-goal lead changes the arithmetic entirely, and Omonia, who had not scored since the first half, would have needed two goals simply to draw.
What the result shows
The scoreline reads as comfortable, but the match was not one-sided for most of its length. Omonia led for more than a third of it, and the score was level for a further 24 minutes. Three of the four goals came in the second half, and all three went to N.E.C.
The clearest conclusion is about N.E.C.'s second half. They conceded nothing after the interval and scored three, which is a decisive turnaround in any competition and particularly so in Europe. Linssen's two goals, one to restore parity and one to put the match beyond reach, made him the most important player on the night.
For Omonia, the evidence points to a match that slipped away rather than one they were outplayed in from the start. Diony's goal gave them a platform, and they kept the lead until early in the second half. The damage was done in two short spells: the five minutes after the restart, and the two minutes that followed Bischoff's goal.
A single result is a narrow basis for broad judgements, and this one should be read on its own terms. N.E.C. came from behind to win, and Omonia left with nothing from a match they had led at half-time.