Feyenoord had FC Groningen with their backs against the wall in the second half, but the winning goal was not achieved. The team from Rotterdam left two points in their own Kuip: 1-1.
Feyenoord must fear that AZ will move one step closer to third place in the Eredivisie tomorrow. If the team from Alkmaar wins against NEC in Nijmegen, the difference between Feyenoord and AZ is only one point. Feyenoord again dropped points in the Kuip against FC Groningen. A second half in which the Rotterdammers tightened the thumbscrews at FC Groningen only yielded one goal.
From a business unit in De Kuip, the suspended FC Groningen coach Danny Buijs looked somewhat concerned at the start of the second half. His team had surprisingly dominated for more than half an hour in Rotterdam against Feyenoord, but in the final phase of the first half Guus Til and Luis Sinisterra missed huge chances for the equalizer. It was in a phase, the last fifteen minutes before the break, that FC Groningen only defended and Feyenoord was the attacking team. That game image was expected in advance for the entire match, but FC Groningen surprised in Rotterdam with excellent field play and attacking intentions.
Michael de Leeuw’s 0-1 did not come out of the blue. The preparatory work was done by Paulos Abraham and especially left back Bjorn Meijer, De Leeuw’s finish was flawless.
After the break, Feyenoord was in control. FC Groningen had to go backwards and the chasing of the Rotterdammers yielded more than before the break. Trainer Arne Slot didn’t wait long to switch either. Ten minutes after the break Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Bryan Linssen disappeared to the sidelines and Swede Patrik Walemark and supersub Cyriel Dessers came in. A header by Luis Sinisterra was defused by keeper Peter Leeuwenburgh.
Twenty minutes before time, however, it was hit. Fredrik Aursnes gave the cross and Dessers was suddenly away from Neraysho Kasanwirjo. The Belgian nodded the 1-1 in and De Kuip churned with enthusiasm. Slot overtook Marcos Senesi and Guus Til and brought in Jens Toornstra and Reiss Nelson. The Norwegian Aursnes went to play centrally in the back and Feyenoord went full steam ahead for the winning goal.
He had Dessers on his head, but the Belgian hit the post next to Leeuwenburgh after a nice pass from Walemark. Feyenoord kept pounding the visitors’ back line, but time was ticking away. The six minutes of stoppage time that referee Pol van Boekel added to the match was on the meager side. In any case, it was too little for the team from Rotterdam to be able to end the match with a win.
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