O15 grabs third spot

The last league game before the winter break was already on the schedule. Today's opponent: the red and white stripes of Sparta Rotterdam. Earlier this season, PSV lost 2-1 in Rotterdam in a very poor match. Since both teams had already qualified for the champions' pool, nothing was at stake. So both teams could play freely today.

The first real chance was an immediate hit. In the 5th minute, captain Jason van Duiven and Julian Kwaaitaal set up a one-two that the former converted beautifully into a goal via inside post: 1-0. PSV remained the better team even after the quick opening goal and was especially dangerous through the fast Elvic Jager. After having missed a couple of opportunities, the same Elvic doubled the score in the 13th minute. After a quick throw in from Renzo Tytens the ball came via Julian to Emir Bars who got to the back line and saw Elvic round off his cross. Sparta played nicely, but was unable to make a fist up front thanks to sharp and good defense. It was therefore waiting for the 3-0. Halfway through the first half Tim van den Heuvel thought he had it on his head after a Jason cross, but his header did not hit the target. A minute later it was still 3-0 when Elvic again outsmarted his opponent on the right and allowed Jason to make his 2nd of the match. Also after the 3-0, PSV looked to further extend the lead. But the shots from the second line all fell to the goalkeeper. And Reda El Meliani came close to scoring the fourth Eindhoven goal. There was no more scoring, so both teams went to the warmth of the dressing rooms with a 3-0 score.

After halftime, the game rippled on. The pace was a bit slower and that gave Sparta the chance to shoot keeper Bart Hamers warm. Bart did not get hot or cold and simply turned away the Rotterdam shots. Once he saw a shot go wide. PSV thought it was all fine and waited patiently for the right moment to settle the game. After first Jason went close when he got his foot to the ball just in front of the goalkeeper after a long pass from Bram Rovers and saw his effort go wide, it was another long ball from behind that was the basis of a PSV goal. The pass came from Reda who played Elvic into the corner. Again, the Sparta goalkeeper came far out of his goal and he was beaten by a lob from Elvic. The final push, however, came from Khaled Razak who thus added lustre to his last game for PSV.

PSV thus won its last game of 2019 convincingly and finished this league in third place. After the winter break, the championship pool starts and all chances for a title are equal again for everyone.

Afterwards, the team, staff and parents remembered to say goodbye to Khaled and Manu who are leaving training. We wish them all the best in their careers. And of course we wish everyone Happy Holidays and a good New Year! See you in 2020.

Setup:
Bart Hamers; Reda El Meliani (73/Tim van den Heuvel), Bram Rovers, Brian van den Boogaard, Renzo Tytens (63/ Merijn van de Wiel); Tijn Vergeldt, Tim van den Heuvel (53/ Arthur Piedfort), Emir Bars (46/ Khaled Razak); Elvic Jager, Jason van Duiven (c), Julian Kwaaitaal.

Yellow cards: Renzo Tytens and Elvic Jager