FC Volendam finally seemed to be able to celebrate again tonight. The team was on its way to a hard-fought point against national champion Feyenoord, but was defeated in injury time. Santiago Giménez headed the home team into a 2-1 lead in the 94th minute and Igor Paixao put an end to all uncertainty two minutes later: 3-1.
Although the management crisis at FC Volendam reached its boiling point last week with the resignation of chairman Jan Smit and three board members and the resignation of Team Jonk, the run-up to Feyenoord was also turbulent. Matthias Kohler was suspended on Tuesday and Michael Dingsdag will do the honors at least until the winter break. The interim coach opted for a defensive formation in De Kuip with five men at the back and put Robert Mühren, Garang Kuol and Zach Booth on the bench.
Feyenoord had lost the last two home games and started the match convincingly. Goalkeeper Mio Backhaus kept Volendam going in the opening phase with a great save. Yankuba Minteh had run off, laid it off to Santiago Giménez, who had tapped the ball in, but Backhaus saved with his toe. Backhaus was unable to answer in the 13th minute. After a great attack through the middle, Quinten Timber convincingly scored to make it 1-0.
Shortly afterwards, Benaissa Benamar had to abandon the fight. The centre-back suffered a head injury in a collision and was replaced by Zach Booth. Until halfway through half-time, Volendam was under constant pressure and had to wait for the 2-0. Booth forced Feyenoord keeper Justin Bijlow to make a save by catching a falling ball in one go.
Brutal equalizer
It was the starting signal for a better phase for Volendam, in which the equalizer was unexpectedly scored. Lequincio Zeefuik was sent off, dribbled past Gernaut Trauner and coolly finished: 1-1. The equalizer brought De Kuip to a standstill and an even battle followed until half time. Volendam reached the break without any problems.
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Immediately after the break, Feyenoord started looking for the lead. Backhaus had to make several saves from efforts by David Hancko. Gimenez. the premier league’s top scorer, was often sought after and his shots were regularly blocked. Feyenoord coach Arne Slot was dissatisfied and had his team with fresh blood play much more offensively. However, Volendam was quite good at the back, so Feyenoord’s only danger came from crosses from the sides and from a header from Trauner from a corner.
Survival mode
In the final phase, Volendam did everything to get the point across. From wasting time to switching and defending with all your might. The percentage of ball possession was 84 for Feyenoord and 16 for Volendam.
Hancko, Ramiz Zerrouki, Paixao and Timber became dangerous with shots from distance, but the Volendam team held firm. Giménez had the biggest chance from a cross, but he tapped the ball just wide. Yet things went wrong for Volendam, as Giménez headed home from a cross from Javairô Dilrosun and put Feyenoord at 2-1 just before the end. In the closing seconds, Volendam went on the attack with goalkeeper Backhaus in search of the equalizer. Feyenoord took advantage and Paixao shot the ball into the empty goal: 3-1.
The defeat drops Volendam to last place in the Premier League. There is one more match until the winter break. It will be away next Saturday against SC Heerenveen. Feyenoord keeps AZ at bay thanks to the difficult victory. The Rotterdam team has five points more than AZ, which plays against Almere City FC on Saturday.
FC Volendam line-up: Backhaus; Neighbor, Plat, Mbuyamba (Van Driel/72), Benamar (Booth/17), Flint; Mirani, De Haan, Twigt; Ould-Chikh, Zeefuik (Hoeve/67)