The New Saints put in a brave display as they lost by only two goals to Fiorentina on their UEFA Conference League debut.
TNS were undone in their first ever European group stage fixture by two goals in the space of four minutes courtesy of two former PSG players in the form of Yacine Adli and Moise Kean.
the latter of whom may be familiar to Everton fans as a former player of the club.
Despite the home side dominating the ball, they failed to carve through the TNS defence, who limited them to long-range shots for most of the night. Goalkeeper Connor Roberts was forced into a world-class stop down to his left in the first half but aside from that was not majorly tested.
Yacine Adli broke the deadlock on 64 minutes with a left-footed effort from the centre of the box that went into the bottom-left corner following a scramble for the ball which fell fortunately for him to finish.
Moise Kean was even more fortunate with his goal 4 minutes later, tapping in on the goal line following a deflected shot.
The only other big chance Fiorentina created was a ball that snuck across the box for Moise Kean again, but despite being about three yards out with an open goal, the forward miss-hit his shot and goalkeeper Connor Roberts managed to get across to get a touch on it.
Connor Roberts – 7
Despite conceding two goals, Roberts made some good saves when required, including a fingertip save down low to his left in the first half.
Good distribution and was TNS’ best player on the night. Could not have done much more for either of the goals.
Josh Daniels – 7
Daniels defended well against winger Riccado Sottil, forcing him to be substituted off in the 58th minute. When Gudmundsson replaced Sottil, Daniels struggled a bit more and got beat a few times, but still managed to put in a very good defensive performance alongside some flashes of flair going forward.
Danny Davies- 6
Danny Davies managed to clear most of what came his way, however towards the end looked fatigued and had a few lapses of concentration. Made a great block to stop a certain goal even if it didn’t appear he knew much about it.
Jack Bodenham – 5
Bodenham did have a good game and was very similar to Davies, the only difference being that for Fiorentina’s second goal, Bodenham failed to get up the pitch quick enough and kept Moise Kean onside. He did play pretty well though and helped to keep Kouame quiet.
Danny Redmond.- 7
Faced with a very tough test coming up against Jonathan Ikone which kept him quiet for the majority of the game, was beaten a few times but in general, did well against a fast and skilful winger.
Ben Clark – 6
Pressed well but didn’t have too much involvement in the game, when he was on the ball he did look solid but just didn’t see it much at all.
Leo Smith – 6
A similar story to Ben Clark in that he didn’t do a lot, but kept his shape well and had his moments, including starting a counterattack very well following an interception that he made.
Daniel Williams – 5
Was very similar to both Clark and Smith, but got a yellow card for stopping a counterattack, which was a sensible decision to take. Had the fewest touches of any outfielder to play 90 minutes (21).
Sion Bradley – 6
While he is usually known for his attacking prowess, today Bradley showed a strong defensive side against the talented full-back Kayode and kept him quiet until both were substituted around the 60th minute. Didn’t take advantage of some good positions going forward.
Rory Holden – 6
Won four fouls for his team and had one of only two TNS shots in the whole game, pressed well but sometimes lost the ball a little bit too easily.
Embed from Getty ImagesAdam Wilson – 5
Did not have much to work with up top, and as a result struggled to make an impact, ran at the defence well a couple of times but in general struggled.
Subs:
Jordan Marshall-5
Didn’t have much impact at all after coming on for the last 30 minutes, got turned inside out by Ikone on one instance, and only touched the ball 3 times, which for half an hour isn’t very positive.
Declan McManus-6
Ran around but wasn’t able to do much else due to lack of service, had TNS’ best shot of the game which was flicked into the keeper’s hands following a low cross.
Adrian Cieslewicz- N/A
Came on with 10 minutes to go, so wasn’t on for long enough to make an impact.
Ryan Brobbel- N/A
Came on alongside Cieslewicz and wasn’t on for long enough to make an impact.
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