Minimal defeat in Amsterdam
PSV O15 boarded the bus towards Amsterdam this second Saturday of November. There, the peers of Ajax were waiting to cross swords. Ajax was first in the group and only lost their first points the previous round by, surprisingly, playing equal at bottom club Excelsior. PSV also played equal, and also against a Rotterdam team: Feyenoord. Will Eindhoven be able to take points away from Amsterdam as well?
The opening phase was pretty well balanced. The first chance was for the home team, the second for PSV when Elvic Jager beat the Amsterdam goalkeeper, but came out at an awkward angle to shoot at goal. The game went back and forth without either team getting any real chances. Actually somewhat surprisingly it became 1-0 in the 26th minute when a PSV defender shot the ball up and the PSV goalkeeper headed the ball away. However, it came exactly at the feet of an Ajacied player who was then able to slide the ball into the empty goal. PSV did not give up and had a great chance to equalize in the 32nd minute. After a corner, the ball landed at the feet of Tijn Vergeldt, who cunningly passed it to Tim van den Heuvel. In free-footing position inside the penalty area, he shot the ball past the wrong side of the post. PSV continued to press and saw twice that a rising Renzo Tytens just did not reach a fellow player with a cross. In the final minute, PSV again came close: Isaac Babadi passed his opponent on the left and opened up to Jason van Duiven on the right. But his shot sailed just over the crossbar.
After halftime, PSV continued its search for the equalizer. And was soon almost successful. After a ball behind Jason's foot was worked into a corner, Bram Rovers was able to head it in, but this attempt also failed to hit the target. Moments later the Eindhoveners were dangerous again after a good corner by Tim, but two teammates just couldn't reach the ball. PSV pressed the home team further and further back in their own half. It just had to be vigilant on the counter.
Bart Hamers turned away a long-distance shot in the 55th minute and had little else to do in the second half. After a good push by captain Jason, he almost got Khaled Razak to clear in the direction of the goal, but the last Ajax defender figuratively put a stop to it. And moments later Jason himself seemed to be able to head towards goal on his own, but an Ajax defender made it so difficult for him that he could barely put power behind his shot. The equalizer was in the air. And in the 67th minute everyone thought it was coming. Eus Waayers played Jason in, who played the ball well into the depths where Julian Kwaaitaal tried to outsmart the goalkeeper with a lob. But unfortunately the goalkeeper was just too long, or the lob just too short. But the fact was that it did not result in a goal. After Ajax played out a counter sloppily, PSV went all or nothing. It also saw the Ajax captain leave the field with two yellow cards just before time. But PSV got no further than a long ball from Bram Rovers that hit the Ajax goal and a shot that changed direction just at the last minute.
As a result, it lost to Ajax, but got far too little. Based on team spirit, effort and play, a draw was the minimum the Eindhoven squad should have taken to the bus. Next Tuesday the team plays at home against Vitesse. If they can produce the same as this match, the reward will soon follow.
Setup:
Bart Hamers; Reda El Meliani (72/Onesime Zimuangana), Bram Rovers, Joëll Gill'ard, Renzo Tytens (72/Raf van de Riet); Tijn Vergeldt (49/Arthur Piedfort), Tim van den Heuvel (57/Eus Waayers), Isaac Babadi; Elvic Jager (51/Khaled Razak), Jason van Duiven (c), Julian Kwaaitaal.