The rather disturbing series of six defeats in a row came to an end on Friday evening, with a draw (1-1) against FC Eindhoven, FC Emmen made little progress. Partly due to a blunder by Jan Hoekstra, a point turned out to be the maximum possible.
The home crowd has not really been spoiled at De Oude Meerdijk so far this season. Only five of the ten matches were converted into a win by FC Emmen, and it was rarely spectacular. If it only concerned home matches, the Drenthe team would have been in fourteenth place before Friday evening. That – and the fact that opponent FC Eindhoven often won the points on foreign soil – meant that the FC Emmen players could get excited in advance.
Pounding on the door
The tactics of the visitors from North Brabant were easy to predict this season, including on the Emmer artificial grass: as a collective, with a defense consisting of five, collapse in your own half and wait for the moments when the counter-attack can be launched. FC Emmen’s task is to crack the code. With acquisition Vicente Besuijen on the right flank, but without Jari Vlak, who left for ADO Den Haag. Maikel Kieftenbeld, in the starting line-up for the second game in a row, wore the band.
FC Emmen pounded on the opponent’s door for a long time in the first half. Coach Fred Grim’s team had the ball frequently, looked eager, but nevertheless failed to really cause the goalkeeper any problems. Combined, FC Emmen simply could not get past FC Eindhoven’s compact defense and the many crosses to which Grim’s team switched were cleared relatively easily. Uncertainty and despair slowly took over.
Blunder Jan Hoekstra
The moment FC Emmen reached 80 percent of ball possession, FC Eindhoven struck. Ozan Kökcu, the older brother of former Feyenoord hero Orkun Kökcu, was given plenty of space to trot towards the Emmer goal with the ball and then lashed out viciously from about 25 meters away. An apparently tenable shot that was still too powerful for goalkeeper Jan Hoekstra. The Eextervener let the ball slip out of his hands and saw to his horror that Evan Rottier scored the 0-1.
For a moment, FC Emmen seemed beaten, but FC Eindhoven failed to take advantage of the new conditions before half time. In that respect, the half-time signal came at just the right time for Fred Grim’s men, who clearly started the second half in good spirits. Wingers Besuijen and Landu in particular made themselves felt with frivolous actions. One of these led to a penalty after just 5 minutes. It was Parzyszek who claimed it, but FC Eindhoven goalie Jorn Brondeel made a good save.
The final blow is not forthcoming
Barely a minute later the team from Emmen scored. The corner kick, resulting from the missed penalty, ended up at the far post at the feet of Julius Dirksen, who hit the ball completely wrong but inadvertently set it aside for Parzyszek. The striker did not hesitate to make up for his mistake moments earlier and brought his team to the same level with a precise shot. The relief was noticeable on the field and the stands of De Oude Meerdijk.
If there was one team that could claim a victory in the remainder of the match, it was FC Emmen. The team pressed, but failed to deliver the final blow to FC Eindhoven, which seemed to settle for a draw. Thus, the sad and disturbing series of six defeats in a row came to an end on Friday, but FC Emmen did not make much progress with the point achieved. The team dropped one spot and is the new number eleven in the rankings.