Hungarian champions Ferencváros TC produced one of the biggest shocks of the UEFA Europa League campaign on Thursday evening, claiming a historic 2-0 victory over AC Milan at the iconic Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
However, the night took a dramatic turn for 25-year-old Nigerian forward Bamidele Yusuf, who was shown a straight red card just 10 minutes after coming off the bench following a heated altercation with Milan defender Mario Gila.
With Ferencváros comfortably leading 2-0 thanks to a brilliant double from French striker Lenny Joseph, Yusuf entered the pitch in the 67th minute to replace the match-winner.
Just ten minutes later, play was halted after Yusuf caught Mario Gila with an elbow. Following a VAR review, the referee issued a straight red card—marking the second dismissal of Yusuf’s professional career.
Speaking after the match, the in-form forward—who has 12 goal contributions (9 goals, 3 assists) in 24 appearances this season—opened up on the provocation behind the incident:
“I know I disappointed my teammates, and I take responsibility for the red card… But what people didn’t see was what happened before that moment. Gila came toward me and said, ‘You’re at our home, and we have the fans… You’re a small team. Nobody knows your name.’
That really got to me. I told him not to disrespect my club. At that point, I was angry. I reacted with my body, and the elbow came out—I honestly wasn’t trying to hit him… I owe every one of my teammates and the manager an apology for letting my emotions take over.
But after everything he said about our club and our supporters, this victory feels even better. He told us nobody knew our name. Well, tonight, everybody knows who won.”
Despite playing the closing stages with 10 men under heavy pressure from the Italian giants, Ferencváros held firm to lock down the 2-0 clean sheet.
The result marks a major milestone for the Hungarian side: it is the first time since the 1967-68 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup that Ferencváros has won four consecutive matches in major European competition.
That legendary 1967-68 run saw them win six straight on their way to the final.
Yusuf will now serve an automatic one-match UEFA suspension, ruling him out of Ferencváros’ next Europa League fixture against NK Celje on November 26.
