The Report

Playing away against N.E.C. is never easy. However, a lot of rain and wind made it even harder this Wednesday. There are even puddles of water on the artificial turf. But you also have to learn to deal with this extra resistance. A good school today.

PSV starts the match well. It tries to pin N.E.C. down from the kickoff and to win the ball back quickly. This produces a few chances in the first few minutes, but the goal is not yet on target. Until, in the 6th minute, Thijn van der Meijs conquered the ball back purely by willpower and soloed to the back line himself. There is a small gap between the post and the goalkeeper and Thijn manages to get the ball into the goal perfectly: 0-1. Ten minutes later Jesper Uneken was awarded a penalty after Ruben van Bommel was brought down in the 16-meter area. Impeccably he shoots the ball in. PSV remains the dominant side until the halftime signal, but is unable to express this in a higher score. So with 0-2, the soaking wet players seek the warm dressing room.

In the second half, N.E.C. starts brighter, they put higher pressure, forcing PSV back a bit more. In the 36th minute, N.E.C. was allowed to take a penalty after a player was brought down, but Kjell Peersman isn't nicknamed the penalty killer for nothing. He stops the penalty in his usual way. Yet it is N.E.C. that manages to score three minutes later and regains hope for more. A few minutes later Jaivy Laurens could go for goal on his own, he saw Ruben van Bommel standing free at the far post and played the ball to him. Ruben manages to get the ball into the goal, in an impossible way with a seemingly impossible marker: 1-3. Later he will also claim that it was meant to be. Five minutes later it is Jesper Uneken who from 18 meters with a placed ball leaves the N.E.C. goalkeeper defenseless: 1-4. In the 50th minute it is Chahid el Allachi who slides the ball into the net after a scrimmage in front of the goal (1-5) and in the 54th minute the final goal is scored by Shijon Martina who makes it 1-6. A good match of PSV O13 despite the weather conditions, but even with that these boys know how to cope well.