In the cauldron that is the Rat Verlegh Stadium, FC Emmen took three important points against NAC Breda last night. And not entirely unimportant: it was also well deserved. The best part of the evening? Perhaps the crown that Rui Mendes put on his rehabilitation.
You shouldn’t mess with a winning team. It is one of the many wisdoms that football has to offer. And one that Fred Grim more than took to heart against NAC Breda. The FC Emmen coach sent the same eleven names onto the field at the Rat Verlegh Stadium as at the beginning of this week against Jong FC Utrecht. Because although the football was not always good, they did win (2-0).
Place on the couch
Good news for Jorrit Smeets. The midfielder was allowed to show again from the start, despite the return of Maikel Kieftenbeld to the match selection. After serving his suspension, he had to settle for a place on the bench. Somewhat surprising, since he was always in the starting line-up before his suspension. But as I said: you shouldn’t compromise on a winning team.
FC Emmen started the match moderately. Grim’s team was simply bluffed by NAC Breda, which put more energy into the balance amid loud cheers from the thousands of fanatics in the stands. The Emmen team may have had the first chance of the match, via Desley Ubbink’s right foot, but it was the home team that opened the score.
An unhappy Jeff Hardeveld gave the opponent a helping hand. A free kick from the people of Breda hit the body of the left back and rolled past Emmen goalie Jan Hoekstra into their own goal. Extremely clumsy, but perhaps it turned out to be just the incentive that FC Emmen needed. From that moment on, the team recovered and repeatedly pushed NAC Breda back into its own half.
Barely 10 minutes later, the Drenthe leveled the score again. With a precise long-range shot, Jari Vlak defeated NAC Breda goalkeeper Tein Troost. In addition to the shot, the attack that preceded it also received some praise. It was Vlak himself who intercepted the ball and got it back via a short combination between Desley Ubbink and Piotr Parzyszek. Suddenly the FC joined in again.
Criticism from the sidelines
In the remainder of the first half, both teams struggled a bit, with a number of chances on both sides. It was not high-quality. Time to change that starting eleven, Grim thought. The coach brought Dennis Vos and Ahmed El Messaoudi at the expense of Ben Scholte and Julius Dirksen. The latter had already criticized Grim on a number of occasions, visibly irritated, from the sidelines.
Whether it was the substitutions or not, FC Emmen took the lead after less than fifteen minutes of play; again after winning the ball. The ball came to Ubbink via El Messaoudi, who served Joey Konings with a stab. .
Then a witch’s cauldron erupted in Breda. The fanatical supporters kept going and gave their team renewed energy. FC Emmen was slowly pushed back, but remained upright and could become dangerous several times through the counter-attack. For example, Parzyszek was close to a goal, but he found consolation on his way. Nevertheless, things seemed to be looking brighter and brighter for FC Emmen.
Especially when Rui Mendes, who has since come on, ended the match. On a pass from the excellently playing Ubbink, he scored. An important goal in several respects. Because after last week’s assist against Jong FC Utrecht, the 23-year-old Portuguese German finally crowned his rehabilitation after months of being sidelined in Breda.
On report
Hoekstra 6.5
Brewer 6
Heylen 7
Dirksen 5.5
Hardeveld 6
Smeets 6.5
Flat 6.5
King’s 7
Scholte 5.5
Ubbink 7.5
Parzyszek 6.5
El Messaoudi 6
Fox 6
Mendes 7
Kieftenbeld 6
Trainer Grim 6.5
Team performance 6.5
Referee Makkelie 7