FC Volendam won 2-1 against Sparta Rotterdam in their own stadium tonight. After Xavier Mbuyamba’s equalizer in the first half, a cup of beer was thrown on the pitch and the referee called off the match. Nets were hung in front of the stands during the interval. In the 91st minute, Mbuyamba headed again, so that FC Volendam is almost certain to maintain itself in the premier league.
Since the lighter incident with Davy Klaassen in the Feyenoord – Ajax match, the KNVB has tightened the rules and several professional football matches have already been (temporarily) suspended.
Trainer Wim Jonk had to adjust his basic team at the last minute. Brian Plat didn’t get out of the warm-up well and that’s why Walid Ould-Chikh started as right back instead of him. Volendam got off to a bad start. In the opening phase, a goal from Sparta was rejected on the edge of offside, but in the 5th minute it was still 0-1. Saito escaped the attention of the Volendam rearguard and convincingly shot the ball past keeper Filip Stankovic.
Sparta dominated without getting many chances. The home side had nothing to say in the first half hour. The first opportunity arose when Henk Veerman was ready to come in, but a promising cross to Daryl van Mieghem was half hit by him.
Ould-Chikh kicks the door
Jonk took Oudl-Chikh off in the 29th minute. He kicked the door of the players’ tunnel in frustration as he left the field. Volendam went 4-3-3 and was next to Sparta again in the 37th minute: a corner kick from Carel Eiting was headed in by Xavier Mbuyamba.
Text continues below the photo.
Sparte disputed the corner, because that ball would not have been shot over the back line, but over the sideline. Immediately after that goal, referee Jannick van der Laan stopped the game because cups of beer had been thrown on the field.
During the regulation break, nets were stretched in front of the stands to prevent the match from being permanently abandoned. In the remaining minute until the break, FC Volendam got one more chance: Calvin Twigt worked the ball over from a Van Mieghem cross.
Great opportunities
In the second half, little happened for either goal for a long time. In the 64th minute, Volendam had three chances in one. Franco Antonucci gave a clever through ball to Murkin. The left back encountered Olij, after which Van Mieghem and again Murkin failed to score in the rematches. With some luck, the ball disappeared through a defender and Olij over the goal.
Towards the end of the game, Gaetano Oristanio offered striker Henk Veerman an opportunity that could hardly be missed, but the tall Volenda player shot the ball wide from close range in a completely free position. The winning goal fell in stoppage time when Eiting again put the ball on Mbuyamba’s head and the defender scored: 2-1.
Text continues below the photo.
FC Volendam has 33 points after 32 games and has a lead of 5 points over Excelsior, which is in a play-off position. The team from Rotterdam has played one game less.
Line-up FC Volendam: Stankovic; W. Ould-Chikh (Veermna/29), Benamar, Mbuyamba, Mirani, Murkin: Eiting, Antonucci, Twigt; Oristanio and Van Mieghem (Seafuik/72)