Roger Schmidt has secured his first Eredivisie victory as head coach of PSV. The German coach saw his team overcome an equalizer and deservedly win over FC Groningen: 1-3.
PSV ahead at halftime
Against FC Groningen, the starting places for Jordan Teze, Olivier Boscagli and Mauro Junior stand out before the start. The three are preferred over Timo Baumgartl, Nick Viergever and Mo Ihattaren, among others. That trio sees from the bench that PSV gets off to a fine start. The team forces the home team far back on their own half and gets two good chances to open the score through Donyell Malen and Mauro within five minutes. Once goalkeeper Padt saved, the rebound was foiled by the Groningen defense.
PSV played increasingly convincing football after that. The only thing lacking in the first half hour is a goal. That falls after 33 minutes. Not for the first time in the Groningen half the ball sticks to Pablo Rosario. He played in hard to Gakpo and then saw the Eindhoven player take on, open up and finish effectively: 0-1. Shortly before that, a personal drama unfolded for former PSV player Arjen Robben. Half an hour after making his return to the Eredivisie, the striker dropped out with an injury.
The first goal of the season comes off the foot of Cody Gakpo
Malen recovers setback, Gakpo decisive
From the stands, he saw his replacement quickly equalize in the second half. Suslov takes advantage of a faltering PSV build-up, which quickly overcomes the setback. Three minutes after the 1-1, a dazzling break via Noni Madueke and Malen led to the 1-2. The latter finally rounded off on a pass from the Englishman.
In the closing stages, the same Malen twice missed the chance for an early decision. First he and Madueke again escape the attention of the Groningen defense, but the post stands in the way of a goal. Moments later, the striker sees Padt turn his penalty kick. In the 87th minute, Gakpo does what he fails to do: shoot PSV into safe harbor. With a dry bang he signed for the 1-3 and the first three points of the season.
Line-up PSV
Mvogo; Dumfries, Teze, Boscagli, Max; Gakpo, Rosario, Thomas(Hendrix/52), Mauro; Malen(Bruma/90), Lammers(Madueke/52)