Before the game, John Heitinga already announced that he was happy for Ihattaren. “It’s a great moment for him,” the trainer told ESPN† “He hasn’t played football for almost a year. Of course, apart from the form, we knew how he came in at Ajax. We are really happy for Mo that he has reached this point and that he is here, but he still has a very long way to go.”
“He has to be match fit,” continued Heitinga. ‘The fact that he is here now says a lot about his attitude. But again, he’s not there yet. From day one, we’ve been telling him to pick up the gauntlet. We know Mo’s qualities.”
Ihattaren came over from Juventus on a rental basis in the past transfer period. The midfielder then joined Jong Ajax to work on his fitness.
Previously, Ihattaren went through the youth academy of PSV, for which he played more than fifty competition matches in the first team. Due to problems with trainer Roger Schmidt, among other things, he left Eindhoven last summer. Juventus took him over and then stabled him at Sampdoria. However, he did not play a single game for that club.
Ihattaren failed to make a difference right away. The team from Amsterdam got no further than a goalless draw against NAC.
Leader Emmen draws
Emmen was unable to beat De Graafschap on Friday evening. The leader of the Kitchen Champion Division played a draw at De Graafschap: 1-1. Joey Konings gave De Graafschap the lead after fifteen minutes. Rui Mendes equalized in extra time in the first half.
Number 2 Volendam lost at home to TOP Oss, 1-2. Joshua Sanches already scored the first goal for the Brabant players in the opening phase. Dean Guezen scored again for TOP Oss in extra time. In the 93rd minute it became tense with a goal from Volendam by Martijn Kaars.
Excelsior also went down. The Rotterdam club, which is third, lost 3-0 at Almere City FC. The formation of coach Alex Pastoor therefore remains the leader in the battle for the fourth period.
Jeffry Puriel, Ilias Alhaft and Lance Duijvestijn scored the goals for Almere.