It's early day again for most of the players. At 8.15 am the bus is ready at the Herdgang to leave for Maastricht. The morning didn't start well for Sem anyway, as he had already hung above a bucket a couple of times, but he was able to come along to the south anyway. That's mentality. At 10:30 the referee whistles for kickoff and the match can begin. PSV has a difficult opening phase because MVV immediately puts pressure on the rearguard and midfield which immediately disrupts the build-up. The opponent is smart enough to see that PSV chooses to build up each time so that their attackers and midfielders set up here. In the 5th minute things went wrong and MVV took a 1-0 lead. After the signal from the sideline to make more variation and play in a deeper midfielder, MVV had to make choices, which created more space for the build-up. PSV got better after 10 minutes and gave a first warning through a combination of Davy and Arne. The game became more evenly matched and after 15 minutes Arne scored the equalizer after some good "hunting" by Greg. However, the joy was short-lived, because 2 minutes later MVV got back on track when a cross from the side was worked in from close range. PSV goes looking again and 5 minutes before time there is a good cross from Niels that Greg heads in, but the goalkeeper is in the way. We went into the break with a 2-1 deficit. In the second half there is immediately a good opportunity for Mo, but his shot goes just over. MVV has added some physical men in midfield and takes control of the game again. So after about 10 minutes in the 2nd half they are able to take a 3-1 lead through their striker. A few minutes later they even make it 4-1 but there was a smell of offside here that one could smell from 100 meters away. But that too is football and so can happen. Still, PSV could come back into the game once more. With an excellent pass Mo serves Greg who circles the goalkeeper and slides the ball into the empty goal. Unfortunately 10 minutes before time MVV locks the door by scoring the 5-2. 5 Minutes before time Jay could make the score more bearable, but the goalkeeper tapped his shot out of the bottom corner. So it remains 5-2 in favor of the no. 2 ranked MVV and we are not yet free of the nasty 0. Next week we can get our teeth wet again when leaders Fortuna visit us. But then again, in a match like this we might be able to pull off a surprise if all goes well for once.

Report with thanks to Eric Zeegers