O15 opens championship pool with win

For PSV O15 the last weekend of January saw the very first match in the championship pool. Opponent Sparta already played its first match last week and won, rather surprisingly, at AZ with 0-1. Because PSV participated in an indoor tournament at their eastern neighbors, PSV's home match against Nac Breda could not take place. Earlier this season, PSV lost 2-1 in Rotterdam, after which the home game was won 4-0. Could the team of coach Vincent Heilmann and his new assistant Joonas Kolkka (Anthony Lurling moved on to the O17 after the winter break) make a good start and beat Nathan Rutjes' team on home soil?

PSV started the game well and immediately took the initiative. This also led to a number of opportunities. But shots from Enzo Geerts and Jason van Duiven went over or wide. Also, a tight cross from Elvic Jager just went past Jason. The biggest opportunity came after half an hour. First an effort from Emir Bars went off target and then Joëll Gill'ard saw his hard shot blocked just before the goal line. Sparta was threatening just once when a deep ball was placed just between goalkeeper Tijn Smolenaars and the last line. But Tijn was alert and was able to grab the ball before the fast Sparta outfielder. In the last minute PSV finally took the lead. However, it needed a penalty for that. A free kick from Reda El Meliani went to Jason in the penalty area. Jason took care of the penalty and shot it impeccably: 0-1.

In the second half, PSV remained the better team. But it was sloppy in the final stages, so the margin remained just one goal. And it had to watch out for the sparse Spartan attacks. Once the home team seemed to be dangerous, but a magnificent sliding tackle by Joëll prevented further danger. After an hour of play PSV decided the game. Jason received the ball from Onesime Zimuangana and reached the back line to the left of the goal. How he did it nobody knows yet, but he managed to turn the ball into the goal in the far corner: 0-2. As PSV then handled the space and opportunities sloppily, it remained 0-2.

A very deserved victory by a team that dictated the entire match and actually did not give away a chance. And a great start to the new league.

Setup:
Tijn Smolenaars; Reda El Meliani (64/ Arthur Piedfort), Bram Rovers, Joëll Gill'ard (64/ Renzo Tytens), Renzo Tytens (45/ Raf van de Riet) Enzo Geerts (60/ Tijn Vergeldt), Tim van den Heuvel, Emir Bars (32/ Onesime Zimuangana); Elvic Jager (68/ Emir Bars), Jason van Duiven (c), Julian Kwaaitaal.