Romano Postema (22) was furious afterwards: not Jorg Schreuders, but he had given the final touch to the ball. ‘This was my goal.’
Afterwards he was shaking in the catacombs of Euroborg. Whether it was out of anger or because of the biting cold, it was not entirely clear. What was clear: Postema, who already scored the 1-0 and 3-0 against MVV, also wanted the 2-0 to his name.
‘It was immediately clear to me’
Referee Sander van der Eijk scolded the FC striker a few times during the match. “I asked if it was already clear who had scored that goal,” Postema said afterwards. “Because it was clear to me: I made it.”
It will have escaped the notice of most spectators and many journalists also raised their eyebrows afterwards when they heard why Postema was so angry.
A wonderful goal that ends with Schreuders. Or at Postema?
The FC’s 2-0 was a phenomenally beautiful goal that was built up from behind and therefore in fact started, just like the first goal of the evening, with Hidde Jurjus. Via various discs such as Leandro Bacuna, Johan Hove and Luciano Valente, the ball ended up with Thom van Bergen, who passed it to Isak Määttä just in time.
The Norwegian left back in turn put the ball back to the completely free Jorg Schreuders, who passed flawlessly under goalkeeper Romain Matthys. At least, that’s how it seemed to everyone.
‘I hit him with my calf’
But upon closer examination of the images it is indeed visible that Postema, who is standing in the path of the shot, still touches the ball lightly. “I hit him with my calf,” FC Groningen’s top scorer explained afterwards. “And so that goal should have been mine. It would be my first hat-trick for FC Groningen. I’m not going to let that be taken away just like that.”
The big question is of course whether Postema’s light touch was so crucial that the ball ended up in the goal, or whether Schreuders’ effort would have ended up behind Matthys even without Postema’s touch. The latter seems to be the case: even without Postema’s calf, Schreuders’ shot would have made it 2-0.
‘It’s funny for you, not for me’
Postema nevertheless continued to persevere, even though the mixed zone from Euroborg how much of a laugh he was about his struggle. “You laugh about it,” said the Stadjer with a grim grin, “but for me it is really important. I touched it and so it’s my goal, that’s how I think it is. Moreover: Jorg himself says that I hit that ball last. Then it’s clear, isn’t it?”
Postema also rushed to referee Van der Eijk after the match, with the match ball – which every player who scores a hat trick can take with him. “He then said that Teletekst and ESPN had given the goal to Jorg and that it would probably be credited to his name. Well, I’m not done with it yet. Let him take a good look at it again.”
‘A real striker lives for goals and Romano especially’
Schreuders could laugh at his teammate’s fierce fight. “I understand Romano. He is a real striker and a striker lives for goals and Romano certainly does that. For me it is less important, I also like an assist and as a midfielder I am much more focused on preparing for the goal. Look, of course I would also like to score, I would rather have three goals than two this season. But it’s more important to me. I would also like an assist if I can help Romano get a hat-trick.”
The battle over that second goal was telling for FC Groningen in this form: the team now has the luxury of being able to worry about these kinds of incidents.
‘We should have scored more often’
Because we can be brief about the match: FC Groningen was lord and master. Also saw Schreuders, who critically analyzed the match again. “We can only blame ourselves for not scoring three more goals.”
Trainer Dick Lukkien wholeheartedly agreed with his midfielder. “We played with a lot of energy until the last second and never let MVV get into the match. That is the merit of our approach to the game, our way of playing and that is a compliment to the team. It was such a wonderful evening.”
Only 1 loss point behind 2nd place
FC Groningen did great business with the 3-0 win over MVV. Because of the draw between closest competitors Roda JC and ADO Den Haag (2-2), the Groningers are two points behind both teams. If FC Groningen wins the catch-up game against FC Emmen, the gap in second place, which entitles them to direct promotion, will only be 1 point.