Union qualify for Europa League group stage again

Union have made history again, qualifying for the group stage of the Europa League for the second season in a row. In two games and two wins (2-0 and 0-1), we go into the Europa League at the expense of FC Lugano. The draw is tomorrow in Monaco!

Written by

Joseph Marien

Union started well in Geneva. After barely six minutes, Lapoussin found his mate Cameron Puertas in space, who, with an eye for perfection, found Dennis Eckert Ayensa who lobbed the goalkeeper. 0-1 for Union.

For Dennis, it was his sixth goal of the season already and the second, consecutively, in Europe.

⏱️ 7'

L'Union Saint-Gilloise prend l'avantage !

Dennis Eckert Ayensa reçoit une passe en profondeur et arrive à lober le gardien adverse.

⚫ 0-1 ⚪ #LUGUSG #UEL https://t.co/coMI7uEwuV
— Royale Union Saint-Gilloise (@UnionStGilloise) August 31, 2023

Strong goalkeeping by Deana

Union were unleashed. Puertas as ubiquitous pivot. The Swiss was all too keen to score in his homeland. He pounced on strong goalkeeper Deana twice. In between, Eckert Ayensa's shot went against the post and Casper Terho missed a great opportunity to double the score. But Cassu also collided with Deana.

Lugano could hardly threaten. Moris had to really clamp down once and saw a hard shot by Sabbatini go wide. The half-time score was 0-1. It should perhaps have been 0-3, but fortunately that was the score over two games.

After the break, the dynimic of the game did not immediately change much. Cameron Puertas was once again alone in front of Deana, and again the goalkeeper was able to make a save.

Milestone

Things also got tricky in our own sixteen metres for a while. But Celar's shot popped over from close range.

Burgess headed a corner kick wide afterwards, while Moris had to whip a header out of his goal.

Then the match fell completely silent, until substitute Gustaf Nilsson's chance went wide and Terho also put a lobbed ball from Lapoussin across goal.

It remained 0-1 and 0-3 on aggregate for la Royale Union Saint-Gilloise. We thus qualify for the UEFA Europa League group stage for a second consecutive season! A new milestone in our history. Thanks to all Unionists, players, fans, staff and management. Allez l'Union !