Dream of promotion is further out of sight. Quality arm FC Groningen also lost in Doetinchem

FC Groningen will not be whistling on its way to the title this season, that much is certain. The dream of a spectacular year in which monster victories are stringed together is miles away. Players are struggling with their form, confidence is fragile and the fluid combination game that coach Dick Lukkien has in mind is hardly reflected.

Yet nothing has been lost yet. In the season that Lukkien celebrated the championship with FC Emmen after relegation from the Premier League, the Drenthe had sixteen points after ten matches. With a victory over De Vijverberg in Doetinchem, FC Groningen would equal the same number of points in as many matches. So nothing wrong yet.

Difficult start

In the championship year of the Drenthe, the game improved noticeably after a difficult start. Lukkien also sees an upward trend at FC Groningen – the second half against NAC Breda offered perspective – but a lot is also going wrong. The Groningen coach is unhappy with his team’s attacking play. The quality of passes must improve in the last thirty meters and he wants to see more courage from his players.

Lukkien will therefore not be satisfied with what he saw from his players in the first half on Friday evening. After De Graafschap had had two big chances in the first minutes, the home team took the lead after just fifteen minutes of play. Johan Hove was easily passed on the sideline by Philip Brittijn, who passed the ball back to Tristan van Gilst at the end line, who then easily allowed Simon Colyn to score.

FC Groningen then clearly exposed its own attacking shortcomings. The guests were able to create a good scoring opportunity a few times, but due to inaccuracy, a lack of quality and uncertainty, an opportunity was never achieved. For example, during an outbreak, Thom van Bergen did not pass the ball properly to fellow attacker Romano Postema, a defender of De Graafschap just managed to hit the ball with a not-quite sharp through pass from Isak Määttä and Marco Rente waited too long before taking a swing. , causing his shot to be blocked.

Good balls from Bacuna

However, there were also two good shots before half time. Both came off the foot of Leandro Bacuna. His first, a corner kick halfway through the first half, was headed just over the goal by Marvin Peersman, who returned to the heart of the defense due to an ankle injury of Thijmen Blokzijl. His second, a turning free kick, was headed into the goal by Rente five minutes before half-time.

The same Rente did his club a disservice seven minutes after halftime by thoughtlessly starting a duel in the penalty area. Referee Allard Lindhout had no choice but to point to the spot. Former Manchester United player Alexander Büttner rammed the ball hard against the ropes from eleven meters.

Hunting for the equalizer

After De Graafschap’s 2-1, FC Groningen quickly had two good chances to score the equalizer. But – according to Lukkien also a tricky point – the quality of FC Groningen’s shots leaves much to be desired. A drop volley from Hove skimmed past the intersection and moments later Kevin van Veen came towards Mees Bakker’s goal, but the striker shot sky high. The Brabander then stamped a pollutant back into the ground to make the reason for his miss clear.

In the hunt for an equalizer, Lukkien brought on debutants Tika de Jong and Wouter Prins in the last quarter of the match, but FC Groningen did not get any further than a few poor-quality goal attempts in the end of the match.

Due to the defeat in Doetinchem, FC Groningen is three points behind the FC Emmen meter of two seasons ago. For those whose glass is half full: FC Emmen became champions that year with a twelve-point lead over number three. Nothing has been lost yet.