Dirk Kuyt dedicated Feyenoord’s 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Europa League to his ‘friends in Liverpool ‘.
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Tonny Vilhena’s late strike had those inside De Kuip bouncing and gave Kuyt, who played the full game in central midfield, another memory to cherish against United. “The crowd was great and that resulted in a lovely atmosphere at De Kuip”. “This is a night not to forget quickly”, he said.
And Kuyt, who is in his second spell at Feyenoord, hailed the fans for their vociferous support as the 36-year-old went on to add that the supporters are the Eredivisie club’s 12th man.
“If you look at the history of Feyenoord they have not beaten Manchester United very often and if you look at the strength of their team on the pitch it’s fantastic that this Feyenoord with so little experience in Europe has beaten them”.
“I told the guys that we would have a good chance if they are four or five percent would give less than normal”.
“We fought in the contest. This is a wonderful start to the tournament”.
Kuyt was not the only former Liverpool player in the Feyenoord ranks as goalkeeper Brad Jones helped keep United at bay, while former Aston Villa midfielder Karim El Ahmadi starred at the heart of the side. Stand-in captain Smalling admitted “we didn’t play up to our standards” in the Netherlands and that United can ill-afford another loss when they return to Premier League action at Watford on Sunday. After going 1-0 up we had to battle due to the physical intensity that they possess.
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The Portuguese lamented his team’s first half performance which he felt wasn’t ambitious enough to win although his team controlled the game and was also critical of his world record signing Paul Pogba who he felt meandered along instead of taking charge. I tried to not let him play a lot and it was good.
