Groningen suffered their second straight defeat in the Europa League group stages as Braga beat the Dutch side 1-0 in Portugal.
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Two weeks ago Groningen’s first ever Europa league tie ended in a heavy defeat to Marseille and they would have been fearing the worst after five minutes in Portugal as Braga took an early lead through Ahmed Hassan.
Soon after the goal Rui Fonte struck the underside of the crossbar for Braga as they threatened a second goal, and Groningen coach Edwin van de Looi acted by hooking Albert Rusnak for the more defensive Kasper Larsen. The change helped Groningen some control and Bryan Linssen nearly equalised before the break but he sent a shot just over the crossbar.
In the second half Groningen keeper Sergio Padt was on form to prevent any further Braga goals, while Hans Hateboer came close to an equaliser, but couldn’t connect properly with the ball in a good position.
Braga held on for the 1-0 win which seems them top the group with six points, while Groningen sit bottom after Slovan Liberec shocked Marseille 1-0 in France.
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