Unusual red card helps FC Twente break deadlock against FC Thun

FC Twente earned a hard-fought but thoroughly deserved Conference League win on Thursday evening. Poor FC Thun held out for a long time at the Grolsch Veste, but Patrik Kristal's red card broke the Swiss side's resistance. Ramiz Zerrouki scored the only goal in the 65th minute: 1-0.

In the first half, Twente had the upper hand but couldn't turn their dominance into a goal. They had the chances. Sondre Orjasaeter's effort struck goalkeeper Niklas Steffen, while Wout Weghorst slid in to meet a low cross and sent the ball just wide.

Daouda Weidmann had thought he had put Twente ahead shortly before that, but his celebrations didn't last. The skilful Frenchman had committed a foul in the build-up, and VAR ruled out the goal.

After the break, Twente struggled to create more openings. An hour in, John van den Brom's side got a helping hand. Following an awkward challenge between Zerrouki and Kristal, the referee initially showed the Twente midfielder a yellow card. VAR then intervened, and Kristal received a red card instead.

Kristal's studs had caught the sliding Zerrouki on the lower leg, although the way the Algerian went into the challenge also played a part. Thun were down to ten men, and it cost them just minutes later.

Down the left, Orjasaeter started an attack and found Weidmann, who laid the ball off perfectly with a backheel for Zerrouki. Zerrouki side-footed it into the far corner: 1-0. Relief swept through the Grolsch Veste. Twente should have been ahead much earlier.

Twente controlled the match from then on, though they still had to watch for Thun on the counter-attack. Weidmann and Weghorst missed chances to add a second, but Thun didn't trouble Twente again. Van den Brom's side opened their Conference League league phase with a win.