It is a thin line at Feyenoord, but PSV is out of the cup after an intense match

The hand-to-hand duel between Quinten Timber and Guus Til, deep into injury time around the halfway line in De Kuip, shows the enthusiasm. They throw everything into it, their legs, arms, hips. The audience is standing on benches, wanting the whistle to blow as quickly as possible.

And that happens shortly afterwards. Beer goes into the air, the old stadium shakes, so passionately the 1-0 victory in the eighth final of the KNVB Cup over defending champion PSV is celebrated. Almost like a final won. The reality is that Feyenoord will play AZ in the quarter-finals in two weeks.

It was an intense, sharp battle for almost two hours, this Feyenoord – PSV. With some irritations and unfriendliness every now and then. With yellow cards for PSV coach Peter Bosz and Feyenoord assistant coach Sipke Hulshoff, due to comments about the arbitration. Striker Noa Lang, a substitute at PSV with a past in the youth ranks at Feyenoord, enters the tunnel of the Kuip with a lot of commotion, around ten o’clock.

Aggressive pressure

It is the high mass of Dutch football, at the moment, Feyenoord against PSV. PSV won twice this season in Rotterdam, in August for the Johan Cruijff Shield and in December in the Eredivisie – the latter defeat in particular hurt Feyenoord. But now PSV itself is being hit. It was supreme in the Netherlands for half a year, it won everything. But now in four days: first a draw at FC Utrecht, followed by the loss at Feyenoord. It is only PSV’s second defeat this season, after the 4-0 at Arsenal in September in the Champions League.

The game flies up and down, mainly due to the aggressive pressure from both teams. Few spaces, little rest on the ball. Clearly visible in the eleventh minute, first with a failed deep pass from PSV midfielder Malik Tillman, followed immediately afterwards by Feyenoord midfielder Calvin Stengs.

PSV, without the injured director Joey Veerman, plays football a little easier in the first phase. It almost strikes the first blow, a header from Guus Til on a turning cross from Hirving Lozano hits the outside of the post. Feyenoord opened furiously just before, after all the fireworks at the turnout, with an interception deep in PSV’s half – it led to a shooting opportunity for striker Santiago Giménez, his shot ending up in the hands of goalkeeper Joël Drommel.

A notable role is played by Bart Nieuwkoop, a professional defender. In his previous period at Feyenoord, he was ultimately not considered good enough, but last summer the club brought him back from Belgium. Right now, in one of the most important games of the season, he plays as a right winger for the first time.

Also read
Quilindschy Hartman: ‘I had doubts: am I going to make it to professional football? And what if it doesn’t work?’

Nice, dominant positional play

It is Feyenoord’s best phase, with beautiful, dominant positional play. Slot applauds along the line, scarves are raised en masse, singing sounds. In that flow they suddenly find each other easily. A fluid combination between Mats Wieffer, Quinten Timber and Quilindschy Hartman – and back to Timber. He gets a lot of space at the edge of the sixteen-meter area because central defender André Ramalho does not cover. Timber turns away. Shoots right into the corner: 1-0.

But it is a thin line at Feyenoord. Shortly before half time, the lightning-fast Til escaped after a good deep pass from Jordan Teze, but his effort bounced off the left foot of goalkeeper Justin Bijlow. Just after the break it was Til again who got a great chance, on the rebound from a shot by Bakayoko. He shoots too cautiously.

At half-time, Bosz intervened: defender Ramalho and the unfit Tillman were taken out, in their place were Patrick van Aanholt and Mauro Júnior. Midfielder Jerdy Schouten drops a line and builds up the play from behind. It shows that Bosz sometimes struggles to position his team well defensively in big matches.

Feyenoord goalkeeper Justin Bijlow (lying) saves from a bet by PSV midfielder Guus Til (blue shirt), with Feyenoord captain Gernot Trauner behind him.

Feyenoord gets away well a number of times. Til’s goal is disallowed for offside, at a time when the home team is completely open at the back. And a strong tackle by Wieffer on Lang is not punished with a penalty by either referee Dennis Higler or the video referee – much to the anger of PSV. Instead, Lang gets a yellow card for his angry reaction. Wieffer played with fire, because he already had a yellow card.

Feyenoord’s chance to double the score came fifteen minutes before the end from a corner kick from Paixão. Gernot Trauner has the ball to tap in, but it ends up on the right foot of goalkeeper Drommel.

Feyenoord manages to hold on to the lead with a lot of fight, and a vibrant Kuip behind them. After losing two mutual matches with PSV, they succeeded in the third attempt. It turns out that PSV can be beaten nationally.

To share





Email the editor