After the good win last Saturday against RKVVO, the match against #3 JEKA was on the schedule on weekday. PSV B2 is together with Cortgene/JOVZ B1 in a fierce battle for the championship. At a respectable distance follow JEKA and Sc 't Zand. Coincidence or not: all opponents that PSV B2 still has to face this competition.
But today the match against JEKA B1 from Breda. We won 0-3 in Breda, but it wasn't easy. We had to start sharp! And so it happened. Already in the first minute Rai Vloet scored the opening goal. And how! Scoring via a turnover seems to become a real craze on Dutch football fields. Rai received a high cross from Moussa Sanoh in the penalty area and cleverly controlled it on his chest before kicking the ball over the goalkeeper with a half-strike with his left. A great goal. As Guus Meeuwis would say: with a capital G. Despite this quick goal, JEKA kept trying to catch PSV early. And for a moment they also seemed to equalize when a free kick went rakishly past. Still, PSV was the better team and the Eindhoven squad created more than a handful of chances and opportunities. But the Breda goalkeeper was often a stumbling block, and when he was beaten, a defender was on the goal line to save (after a header by Clint Leemans). After 26 minutes, PSV extended its lead to 2-0 after all. On the right, Moussa "briefly" switched to his 5th gear, running past his direct opponent as if he were not there. He reached the back line and put in another feint kick, then passed the ball and Mohammed Rayhi simply tapped it in. It was that Rai was unfortunate in his finishing, because he had a couple of chances in the first half, one of which was a great one after a fabulous assist from Michaël Maria, who put Rai in front of the goalkeeper with a header. With just under 15 minutes left to play, Sven van de Kerkhof steamed up with "seven mile boots" and decided to take a left-footed shot from just outside the 16m. His slide went narrowly past the wrong side of the post for PSV. Less than a minute later, it was the post on the other side of the same goal that prevented a goal by Michaël Maria when he struck devastatingly. A 3rd PSV goal could not be long away and it came. While Moussa regularly got through on the right, it was now Sander Heesakkers who got through on the left. His fine cross was extended to a goal by Olivier Rommens. Just before half-time it was the same Olivier who took a shot from 18 meters with his left. Easter had just passed, but even with his 'chocolate leg' he hit the ball full, which to his own dismay splattered onto the crossbar. Just like last Saturday, PSV managed to hit the aluminum several times.
The 2nd half showed a different picture of the match. JEKA put pressure even earlier, and tried to disrupt the build-up at a very early stage. Brutally, they now also got chances. And not small ones either...... PSV's biggest danger came from the right flank. But unfortunately the final pass was sloppy. Clint Leemans did score almost midway through after a corner from Vinnie Vermeer. Again, the JEKA goalkeeper did a great job of parrying the hard header from close range. JEKA continued to get its chances in attack, with the PSV defense not always looking solid. With about 10 minutes left to play, however, it was PSV who came closest to a goal, but again the aluminum stood in the way of an Eindhoven goal (Olivier's slider). The counterattack gave JEKA the perfect opportunity to score the equalizer when one of the forwards got on the edge of offside and could only go for goalkeeper Jesse Bertrams. Jesse, however, kept his eye on the ball and saved expertly. The final chord was for PSV. Just before time Moussa set up an attack and sent Ibrahim Fofane away at the right moment. At speed he reached the goal line and sent in a tight, hard cross that was easily worked in by the incoming Michaël Maria. In the final minute Olivier Rommens received a yellow card for talking.
Conclusion: PSV still has a championship in their own hands. Still 2 matches to go. Including next Saturday's topper against Cortgene/JOVZ. The game in which PSV takes the title if they win. If Cortgene/JOVZ win, the Zeeland team will pass PSV in the rankings with only one league round to play. All support is welcome on Saturday!