By Akyereko Frimpong MansonÃ
Follow Akyereko on Twitter: @AkyerekOfficial
Black Stars winger Christian Atsu wasted an early minute penalty and his Vitesse Arnhem side slumped to a painful 1-0 loss against in-form Groningen in the Dutch Eredivisie Uefa Europa League Play-offs on Thursday evening.
Vitesse were presented with an inviting 13th minute chance to go in front at the Euroborg Stadion but when the Ghana international stepped up to convert the kick, he horrendously missed leaving the game open for the host who took advantage to win the tie.
Neither of the sides was able to take the lead after Atsu penalty miss until the 88th minute when Lorenzo Burnet hammered home from close range to seal victory for Groningen in the first-leg.
Dutch-born Ghanaian defender Johan Kappelhof lasted the entire duration of the match and was rated 6/10, same with Atsu who also earned the same rating by Euro Sport.
However, Atsu's hopes of qualifying Vitesse for next season's Europa League has not been dashed yet as the second leg of the tie is billed for Saturday at theà GelreDome.