FC Eindhoven had a fantastic evening at home against De Graafschap on Friday. In a sold-out Jan Louwers Stadium, the team won 3-1 against De Graafschap. With that victory, the dream season of Rob Penders’ team continues, next week she will play the semi-finals in the play-offs for promotion to the Eredivisie.
The sun and the massive presence of supporters already ensured a wonderful atmosphere before the start of the match. And it just got better very quickly. After half an hour of play, the ‘ten, ten, ten’ rolled off the stands. It happened with a wink, but with three goals scored in thirty minutes it didn’t come out of nowhere.
After ten minutes it was Justin Ogenia who opened the scoring. The wing defender was only in the starting line-up at FC Eindhoven for the second time this season. He was out for a long time due to a cruciate ligament injury. Now he had to replace the injured Jasper Dahlhaus. That was a downer for the home team beforehand, because Dahlhaus has been of great value as an emerging back this season. However, Ogenia soon showed that it could also be important, by shooting the ball into the long corner from a distance and thus put the 1-0 on the scoreboard.
Five minutes later it was already level, goalkeeper Nigel Bertrams had a chance at a shot by Mees Kaandorp. For example, the result that was on the scoreboard on Monday after ninety minutes was quickly reached.
Twice hit
FC Eindhoven then made the difference in two minutes in the first half. First it was tastemaker Charles-Andreas Brym who was able to work a good cross from Collin Seedorf against the ropes in complete freedom. Then it was Joey Sleegers, the most important link in the Eindhoven formation this season, who managed to crown a long solo with a nice bouncer in the goal: 3-1.
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Five minutes after the break, central defender Maarten Peijnenburg brushed the ball out of the stadium. It was typical for the home team’s second half. FC Eindhoven was pushed back, without really getting into trouble very often. The biggest chance in the second half was even for Sleegers, who couldn’t get the ball past the De Graafschap goalie face to face with Hidde Jurjus.
De Graafschap, supported by 450 fanatical supporters, tried to force the connection goal. However, there was no real final offensive, also because FC Eindhoven played the match smart. There were therefore no more goals, as a result of which the blue and whites stepped off the field with a 3-1 victory.
Semi finals
With the win, FC Eindhoven is in the semi-finals of the play-offs for promotion to the Eredivisie for the second time in history. On Tuesday it will play the first of two matches, against the winner of the diptych, on Saturday, between NAC Breda and ADO Den Haag. The road to the Eredivisie is still long. Because in the event of a successful semi-final, there is also a double match in the final.