Willem II was unable to provide a stunt during a visit to Feyenoord. In De Kuip, the team of coach Kevin Hofland could hope for that for quite a while, despite the fact that it was clearly the lesser match. It took until halfway through the second half before the first goal fell, eventually the game ended in 2-0.
Hofland caused a lot of surprise with the fans of Willem II with his basic team. The starting positions for Miquel Nelom and Godfried Roemeratoe were striking, especially with players like Daniel Crowley, Pol Llonch and Mats Köhlert on the bench.
After nine seconds it was an immediate shock for the more than seven hundred Tilburg fans who had traveled with them, it was Dessers who immediately caused danger with a shot. It was the start of a rush towards Timon Wellenreuther’s goal. The German goalie ensured – together with the carelessness of the home team – that it was still 0-0 at halftime. Eighteen attempts were made by Feyenoord, but the majority flew towards the second ring. The times that the Rotterdam team did manage to shoot on target, Wellenreuther did what he stands for: stop the ball.
Hofland intervened in the break. His team was unable to bring in anything against Feeyenoord’s attacking drive. Zero shots were fired. Willem II actually didn’t even come close to a position where it could think to shoot. With Crowley and Köhlert as replacements for Nelom and Roemeratoe, Hofland brought more football into the team. That was immediately reflected on the field. In the first half, Willem II immediately lost the ball as soon as it got hold of it. In the second half it had the ball more often and even played regularly in the half of Feyenoord.
Opening goal
The moment the Willem II fans – who were clearly the better party in the stadium in the stands – started to cautiously hope for a point or even more, Feyenoord struck. Halfway through the second it was Luis Sinesterra who worked the ball past Wellenreuther with a slider in the short corner. Ten minutes before the end of the game, the goalie made sure that it did not become 2-0 and therefore it remained exciting in terms of score, eye to eye with Bryan Linssen, he remained calm and prevented an almost certain goal.
Three minutes before the end, Freek Heerkens was very close to the equalizer. Due to panic in the Feyenoord defense, the defender who plays as a midfielder suddenly got a huge opportunity. His shot was cracked. It was the Tricolores’ first real goal attempt. And also the last.
Decision
In the absolute final phase Willem II tried to put pressure towards the goal of Feyenoord goalie Ofir Marciano, but it did not become dangerous anymore. In the search for a chance, Feyenoord came out quickly again in injury time, it was Linssen who outplayed Wellenreuther and managed to shoot the ball into the empty goal. The substitute determined the final score at 2-0.