The last game of the season for the championship team PSV E1. The games after winning a championship are not easy to start sharp. And now the E1 has regularly this year anyway that the second part of the match needs to correct what was left in the first half. Just remember the heroic game against De Spartaan where a 4-1 deficit at halftime, was turned into a 5-4 victory.
Indeed, it is beginning to be noticed that the E1 supporters also only come alive in the second half. In that second half, PSV delivers the fireworks the crowd comes for. A fair portion of the PSV crowd had also missed the first half today; will they let that half go by now? No, it's not that bad now: the cause was simply that the match had started half an hour earlier; not at 6:30 pm but at 6:00 pm.
The excellent playing Willem II was simply stronger in the first half, and the E1 too lackluster. At halftime a 3-0 deficit due to excellent goals, and the fact that only three remained was actually a windfall.
Halftime. Surely this was going to be very difficult. Willem II has a very nice footballing team that I would have rated a few places higher in the league. In the second half the lads have charged up, and the catch-up race begins. Willem II remains dangerous on the counter, but has to go back more and more as the half progresses.
It is Baggio who, when he really has to, is always there. From a nice solo a hard shot at the goalkeeper who has to let go of the ball and Roland, being the real striker that he is, is right there and taps in, 3-1. The 3-2 falls fairly quickly after an action by Hus who again allows Roland to score. With quite a few minutes to go, we have every hope.
But then the production falters. The chances keep coming and stringing together. It is especially James who puts in a lot of effort and shoots at goal from all corners and holes, but the excellent Willem II goalkeeper knows how to turn the balls away. Even the bar has to bring help once on a shot by James. PSV pulls forward, and then it is often watchful at the back and the boys do just that. Baggio, Luc, Steven and Arne are sharp at the back and give little away.
Finally an excellent rush by James to the back line, a tight cross to Roland but he is a bit surprised by the speed of this ball and does not manage to find the goal. So it remains 3-2 for Willem II.
With the tournaments coming up it will be a nice challenge for the team to start the E1-engine right at the beginning of the game, a tournament game is over before you know it has started ...
Report with thanks to Hans Bosma