Greg . 18 hours ago

Ron Jans all smiles after strong first-leg win in Moldova: 'Won't do that tonight!'

FC Utrecht manager Ron Jans was all smiles after his side convincingly took home the victory from a tricky away match at Sheriff Tiraspol.

FC Utrecht won the first leg of their UEFA Europa League second-round matchup against Sheriff Tiraspol 3-1 in Nisporeni, earning them a great position for the away leg in Utrecht next week.

Sheriff, who've already played five games in the Moldovan Super Liga, obtained off to a better start and took the lead from a long throw-in - something Jans said they'd prepared for.

"We trained for that, but they changed their tactics," Jans told RTV Utrecht over the goal they conceded.

"Before that, there was an unmarked player in the five-metre area, too, when a corner was taken.

That moved well, but this one didn't.

"Despite conceding the goal, Jans was happy with his side's performance.

"Especially because they have been competing for five weeks, and we have only been training for five weeks.

You couldn't really see that difference today.

"Managers often downplay the performances of their team in the days following the match, but Jans won't do any of that.

"A trainer is there to dampen the euphoria, but I'm not going to do that tonight!"I am confident that we will complete it off next week.

I don't want to say I'm proud yet, but I'm certainly satisfied.

"