Just before the start of the game in Enschede, PSV heard through the stadium speaker that leader Ajax had won in Groningen. The team of trainer Roger Schmidt knew that they had to win in the sold-out Grolsch Veste in order not to be damaged in the title race. Not an easy task against the number four in the ranking, who had lost only one of the sixteen previous competition matches (Ajax-away) and had not fallen in the Grolsch Veste since the game with NEC on October 24 last year.
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Although Cody Gakpo and Andre Ramalho were fit again, Schmidt let them start on the bench. The PSV coach stuck to the team that had won 5-0 against Fortuna Sittard before the international break, which meant that Erick Gutierrez also appeared at the kick-off, although the Mexican had only returned from his homeland late on Friday and was no longer with him. can train.
FC Twente, in excellent form, started the game furiously and put PSV completely on the defensive. Schmidt’s team had no answer to the fierceness of the home team. PSV first got through the eye of the needle when ex-PSV player Joshua Brenet was able to head in freely on a free kick from PSV mercenary Michal Sadilek. The joy in the Grolsch Veste was disturbed by the VAR, which had found that Brenet had touched the ball with his arm.
With the disallowed goal, PSV goalkeeper Joël Drommel, who returned to his old club for the first time, did not look good when he came out and it would be a painful evening for the goalie. Just after the disallowed goal, Dimitris Limnios broke through on the left, after which Drommel came out half-hearted and Ricky van Wolfswinkel had the ball in front of the goal for the tap: 1-0.
Michel Vlap celebrates the 3-0 for FC Twente. PSV keeper Joel Drommel can fish again.
ANP/HH
At this stage of the match, it was a big hole in the back of PSV at PSV. In the 19th minute, Van Wolfwinkel was again simply stabbed in the center by Daan Rots. Face to face with Drommel, the experienced striker made no mistake: 2-0. Already his fourteenth goal of this season, with which the Woudenberger has moved up to second place on the top scorers list ex-aequo with Guus Til of Feyenoord.
FC Twente kept on storming and PSV did not get to play their own game at all. Where Drommel still escaped a third goal when Ramiz Zerrouki hit the post, it went completely wrong a little later. Olivier Boscagli just handed in the ball during the build-up, left back Philipp Max trudged behind FC Twente striker Daan Rots without intending to recapture the ball, after which the cross reached the detached Michel Vlap: 3-0. A parody of defending PSV, which was completely outclassed in the first 25 minutes.
With a 3-0 lead in their pocket, FC Twente slowed down a bit, after which PSV gained some control over the match. It was Joey Veerman, who made the score more bearable for PSV with a delicately placed shot: 3-1.
With a triple substitution, Schmidt tried to give his team an impulse for the second half. Gakpo, Ramalho and Noni Madueke came in ahead of Ritsu Doan, Erick Gutierrez and Jordan Teze.
Gakpo only needed eight minutes to make the connecting goal. The Eindhoven resident blasted the ball from a distance into the goal of the hopeless Lars Unnerstall, who was still under contract with PSV last season. It marked Gakpo’s ninth Eredivisie goal this season.
Eran Zahavi congratulates Gody Gakpo with the 3-2.
ProShots
The match kept going up and down. A few seconds after Madueke had wasted a good chance due to a wrong assumption, Vlap hit the crossbar on the other side. FC Twente goalkeeper Unnerstall, who has played so strongly this season, also appeared more in the piece after the break. For example, the German keeper blocked a shot from Gakpo and he received a helping hand from Brenet with a header from Ramalho, who cleared the ball from the goal mouth. Just before time, PSV were very close to the equalizer, but Madueke hit the post, after which Unnerstall worked Sangaré’s rebound out of the goal with a catlike reaction. The German goalkeeper, who was not considered good enough by Schmidt to defend PSV’s goal, lived up to his fame at this stage of the match and was a real obstacle for PSV attacking with the courage of despair . In the final phase, Unnerstall still capitulated, when he first stopped a shot from Max with his fists, but then had no answer for the rebound with the head of Boscagli (3-3).
View the program and the position in the Eredivisie here
“We made too many unnecessary mistakes”
„We started badly, while FC Twente was very sharp. That resulted in a lot of unnecessary mistakes that put us in a difficult situation,” said Schmidt.
“Fortunately, we scored before half time, that gives some motivation to keep our head up,” said Schmidt about Joey Veerman’s 3-1, who took advantage of Vlap’s loss of ball. “We showed character after the break and achieved a point, but that is not enough if you want to become champion. It feels more like losing two points than saving a point.”