GD Estoril-Praia vs PSV Eindhoven - Flooding halts Estoril-PSV clash

Posted Friday, November 28, 2014 by PA

The Europa League Group E match between Estoril and PSV Eindhoven was abandoned at half-time due to a waterlogged pitch.

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

But that was as far as the match got as large areas of the playing surface at Praia's Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota began to flood. PSV indicated on Twitter that the first half would stand, with the second to be played at a future date.

With Dinamo Moscow having won the group after beating Panathinaikos earlier in the evening, eliminating the Greek team, Estoril and PSV were battling for the second qualifying place with the hosts needing a win to keep their chances alive.

The goalscoring started early as Depay met Narsingh's right-wing cross with a low right-footed finish at the back post.

Kleber's header was saved and Yohan Tavares shot over, but Estoril equalised at the third attempt 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, though, for Narsingh to restore PSV's lead as he controlled Jetro Willems' astute pass and fired home right-footed.

Tavares' header was blocked by Georginio Wijnaldum and Toze's 20-yard drive met with similar resistance from Jeffrey Bruma before Estoril equalised once more.

Narsingh fouled Kuca and the Cape Verde international exacted full revenge when he met Toze's free-kick with a header from six yards which flashed high past keeper Jeroen Zoet.

Seba shot wide and Kuca's effort was too high but Amado converted Kuca's cross to give Estoril a half-time lead, which Kuca failed to add to when his curling effort cleared the crossbar.

During the interval, though, the heavy rain battering the stadium became too much for the playing surface to cope with, leading to waterlogging and an initial suspension of the game.

A 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 temporarily suspended."

Just over 15 minutes later, a post from the Dutch club on Twitter announced: "The match is permanently discontinued for tonight. At present, consultation is taking place on when the 2nd half is played. #estpsv

"Once we are able to communicate something official about the situation, we will do that through this channel."