Feyenoord holds three-point lead over Ajax a week before the Klassieker
With the premier league standings, we conclude this liveblog. As Feyenoord fought back against Volendam, it keeps a three-point lead over Ajax. An interesting starting position for next weekend’s De Klassieker.
FEY-VOL | Finished: Feyenoord wins
A week before De Klassieker, the proportions at the top of the Eredivisie are unchanged. Feyenoord were the last of the top six in action and turned a deficit against FC Volendam into a win (2-1) in a strong second half.
In a week’s time, the leaders will defend a three-point lead over Ajax at the Johan Cruijff Arena.
FEY-VOL | 90+4′ Volendam red card
Deep in injury time, Mbuyamba brings down the onrushing Bullaude just outside the sixteen-meter area. The Volendam defender is presented with the red card and leaves the field.
Feyenoord-FC Volendam 2-1
FEY-VOL | 80′ Final Phase at De Kuip
Ten minutes left to play at De Kuip, where the crowd cheerfully displays Feyenoord scarves after the redeeming lead.
Big question: does Volendam coach have another tactical find in store that could possibly lead to a second Volendam goal? In any case, the along the line wildly gesticulating Arne Slot does not seem to be comfortable yet.
Feyenoord-FC Volendam 2-1
FEY-VOL | 74′ GOAL FEYENOORD
And there is Feyenoord’s goal, and it couldn’t fail to come as the Rotterdammers had chance after chance in the last few minutes.
The maker of the goal is a notable one though: Mirani unhappily works the ball into his own goal after an attempt by Gimenez.
Feyenoord-FC Volendam 2-1
FEY-VOL | 68′ Great chance Volendam
A Feyenoord goal is in the air, but De Kuip is suddenly startled when Wieffer makes a mistake and Veerman goes off alone on Wellenreuther. But the Volendam man squanders the chance and Feyenoord breathes a sigh of relief.
Feyenoord-FC Volendam 1-1
FEY-VOL | 61′ Feyenoord steps up the pressure
Feyenoord stepped up the pressure even further and the Volendammers briefly lost their bearings. One attack follows another and this way a Rotterdam lead is bound to come.
The biggest chances were for Idrissi – who failed to get a Jahanbakhsh cross past Plat at the far post – and Gimenez, whose shot was cleverly parried by goalkeeper Stankovic.
Feyenoord-FC Volendam 1-1
FEY-VOL | 52′ GOAL FEYENOORD
Geertruida sets well in the Volendam penalty area, lays back to Gimenez and the Mexican shoots in for the equalizer. Feyenoord comes alongside Volendam again.
Feyenoord-FC Volendam 1-1
FEY-VOL | 50′ Volendam pressure
Feyenoord should score, but in the early stages of the second half it is FC Volendam that puts pressure on the Rotterdam goal and gets a handful of half-chances. No shots on goal came, however.
At the other end, we see a header from Bullaude, which can be simply caught by Stankovic.
Feyenoord-FC Volendam 0-1
FEY-VOL | Second half at De Kuip
Coach Arne slot intervened and made three substitutions at halftime. Pedersen, Danilo and Dilrosun made way for Szymanski, Bullaude and Jahanbakhsh.
Feyenoord face a 1-0 deficit against FC Volendam.
Wijnaldum scores his first goal for losing AS Roma
Georginio Wijnaldum has scored his first goal for AS Roma. The Dutch midfielder did so in injury time of the second half of the home match against Sassuolo. The goal did not help AS Roma: 3-4.
Roma is renting Wijnaldum from Paris Saint-Germain this season and has an option to buy the former Feyenoord and PSV player. Against Sassuolo, Wijnaldum, who is part of the Dutch national team’s provisional squad, played the entire match. Right back Rick Karsdorp came on after halftime.
AS Roma is in fifth place in Serie A with 12 rounds of play to go.
FEY-VOL | Rest at De Kuip
Feyenoord and Volendam seek the dressing rooms at a surprising 1-0 lead for the visitors. But against Feyenoord – which all too often strikes in the closing stages – that says nothing of course.
What is a fact: if it stays that way, Ajax will take over the lead in the premier league on goal difference.
FEY-VOL | 40′ Great chance Volendam
Feyenoord increase the pressure on the Volendam goal, but the biggest chance is at the other end. Veerman lures Pedersen and Geertruida with a fine approach, but his shot then misses target.
But the home team is also threatening from time to time: Gimenez shot just wide from a promising position.
Feyenoord-FC Volendam 0-1
FEY-VOL | 30′ Chances for Feyenoord
The play remains the same after the Volendam lead: Feyenoord has the ball, only now the Rotterdammers are looking for the equalizer instead of the lead.
Feyenoord get chances too. A shot from Hartmann went just wide, a header from Gimenez went well wide, and Danilo wanted a penalty after a stumble, but referee Gözübüyük did not agree.
Feyenoord-FC Volendam 0-1
FEY-VOL | 12′ GOAL VOLENDAM
For twelve minutes it was one-way traffic at De Kuip toward the Volendam goal, but at the first chance for the guests it’s a hit: the quick-witted Van Mieghem takes off on a pass from Veerman and shoots from an awkward angle.
It is Van Mieghem’s sixth goal of the season, and Volendam’s first in De Kuip since 1995.
Feyenoord-FC Volendam 0-1
FEY-VOL | Kickoff in Rotterdam
The ball is rolling in De Kuip: Feyenoord-FC Volendam has started.
A win keeps Feyenoord three points ahead of Ajax, and that can’t hurt with next week’s Klassieker on the schedule. A defeat would see Feyenoord lose the lead to the Amsterdammers.
PSV with two fingers on forehead
Why did the PSV players celebrate their goals against Cambuur with two fingers to their foreheads? PSV’s Twitter account refers to the Japanese anime character Dragon Ball Z.
The cartoon series is presumably popular with the Eindhoveners, because five years ago Hirving Lozano and Érick Gutiérrez also mimicked a Dragon Ball dance.
Feyenoord with Giménez and Danilo against Feyenoord
Feyenoord will feature Santiago Gimenez in the starting lineup against FC Volendam. The Mexican striker pulled out of the Europa League match against Shachtar Donetsk on Thursday, but is fit enough to play today.
Danilo also has a starting place. Sebastian Szymanski and Alireza Jahanbakhsh are on the bench.
And that’s five: after a nice combination between Silva and Simons, the ball comes ready for the left foot of El Ghazi, who scores his second goal of the day: 5-2.
PSV-CAM | 83′ Final Phase in Eindhoven
The closing stages are running in Eindhoven. PSV had two more best chances for the 5-2 in quick succession: first Ruiter tapped a Sangaré effort over the goal, from the ensuing corner the Cambuur goalie did the same after a header by Silva.
But Cambuur is also still quite threatening at times, including when goalkeeper Drommel lets a ball slip and almost grants Johnsen a huge chance. The team from Leeuwarden continues to cheerfully play along and that makes for a nice, open second half.
And again the ball is in the goal. Silva unerringly popped a penalty kick in hard and high for the 4-2. The ball went on the spot after a particularly clumsy handball by Cambuur defender Bergsma, who stuck out his arm to prevent Sangaré from scoring.
PSV-CAM | 61′ GOAL CAMBUUR
Cambuur’s tying goal is a fact: From a corner kick, Johnsen, via Sangaré, kicks the ball rocketing in. It is only 3-2.
Cambuur is clearly not yet resigned to defeat against PSV. A minute before Johnsen’s goal, the Norwegian should have actually scored as well. Mahi crossed the ball to Johnsen, a meter from the goal line, but the Cambuur striker failed to get the ball towards goal.
And then suddenly things moved quickly. After good cross work by Til, the ball reached El Ghazi via the falling Veerman, who worked the ball in at the far post: 3-1.
Van Aanholt, who earlier this week was announced to be rented longer by PSV, shoots from just outside the penalty area and goalkeeper Ruiter has no good answer: 2-1 for PSV.
It’s a bit of a Sunday goal, but PSV can use it well because so far the Eindhoveners had a lot of trouble coming up with a good attack.
The ball rolls for the second half at PSV-SC Cambuur, at an interval of 1-1.
One substitution on PSV’s side: Bakayoko is replaced by El Ghazi.
At halftime, Eindhoven said goodbye to Marco van Ginkel, who today wears the Vitesse shirt again.
Bergwijn scores first premier league goal since November: ‘It started to eat away at me’
It had been a while since Steven Bergwijn stood cheerfully in front of the camera after an Eredivisie match. But after the 4-2 win over sc Heerenveen, the Ajax attacker once again showed a broad smile. And that was mainly because of his 3-0: that was his first premier league goal since Nov. 12 last year, at 3-3 against FC Emmen.
It’s halftime in Eindhoven. PSV fell behind, but quickly restored the balance. Ruud van Nistelrooij’s team then thought to take the lead through Branthwaite, but VAR threw a spanner in the works.
PSV-CAM | 39′ Goal PSV cancelled
There, it seems, is the lead for PSV. A Veerman cross cannot be cleared by Cambuur.
Finally the ball falls at the feet of Branthwaite and the defender shoots, but Sangaré was annoyingly offside in his attempt.
Referee Van der Laan therefore cancels the goal on the advice of VAR.
Moments later, on the opposite side, Mahi shoots over in a promising position.
PSV-CAM | 24′ PSV escapes
Soooo, PSV escapes another Balk hit. This time Branthwaite goes to the foul line. Balk has free passage, but shoots the ball wide.
PSV-CAM | 22′ GOAL CAMBUUR!
What a surprise in Eindhoven. Van Aanholt makes a mistake after a pass from Mahi to Balk, after which the latter can print. Drommel is hopeless.
In Eindhoven, PSV started the encounter with straggler Cambuur. A win is necessary to stay in the wake of AZ, Ajax and Feyenoord.
Ajax held on quite easily in the closing stages and won comfortably in Heerenveen, mainly thanks to the pitch start with three goals in the first twenty minutes.
Shachtar as frontrunner to Rotterdam
Shachtar Donetsk will come to De Kuip as the leaders of the Ukrainian soccer league for the return against Feyenoord in the Europa League eighth finals. Coach Igor Jovicevic’s team won 3-0 at Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih on Sunday. All goals fell in the second half.
Shachtar now leads Ukraine, 3 points ahead of SC Dnipro-1. Feyenoord leads the premier league in the Netherlands.
Shachtar and Feyenoord met in the Polish capital Warsaw on Thursday. The first game ended 1-1 due to two late goals. Next Thursday the return game will take place in Rotterdam (kick-off 6:45 pm). The winner qualifies for the quarterfinals of the Europa League.
HEE-AJA | 63′ Rulli prevents Frisian goal
There is almost the 2-4 there. Van Ewijk shoots in promising position, but Ajax goalkeeper Rulli has an answer in hand.
HEE-AJA | 54′ Penalty kick turned back again
Penalty kick for Heerenveen. Sahraoui is floored by Álvarez, who tries to fix his foul pass. That does come at the cost of a foul, according to referee Manschot.
However, VAR calls Manschot to the side, as the question is whether Sahraoui is actually hit by Álvarez. After studying the footage, Manschot reverses his decision.
Taylor, who was preferred to Klaassen, provides Ajax’s fourth goal. The midfielder shoots the ball with the right into the short corner. Heerenveen goalkeeper Xavier Mous cannot turn Taylor’s effort.
HEE-AJA | 46′ Second half is underway
We started the second half in Heerenveen, where the home team was put at a wide deficit early on. Van Amersfoort’s goal just before the break gave some hope.
The whistle sounded and we went to rest with a 1-3 score in favor of Ajax, who started the game energetically. The Frisians regained some hope with the goal just before the break.
HEE-AJA | 37′ Three substitutions at Heerenveen
Heerenveen coach Kees van Wonderen intervened before halftime and brought in three fresh forces. Haye, Van Hooijdonk and Andersson replace Olsson, Al Hajj and Nunnely.
HEE-AJA | 32′ Given penalty reversed
Ball goes on the dot for Heerenveen, after a foul by Sahraoui on Rensch, but referee Manschot is corrected by VAR and puts the ball just outside the sixteen.
Tadic’s free kick then delivers Ajax nothing.
It does go very easily for Ajax. Steven Bergwijn slaloms through the Heerenveen defense, combines with Tadic and rounds off.
On the road in Heerenveen, where the home team is hoping for a surprise against Ajax. The Amsterdammers should definitely not lose any points in the pursuit of leader Feyenoord.
Vincent Janssen thanks for Dutch national team
Vincent Janssen has indicated to national coach Ronald Koeman that he is no longer available for the Dutch national team. Personal reasons combined with the increasingly full soccer calendar were behind this decision.
Janssen (28), who was part of the provisional selection for the European Championship qualifiers with France and Gibraltar later this month, made 22 appearances for the Dutch national team and was seven times on goal.
NEC seemed to be on a roll after two goals by Dimata, but after Dost’s substitution Utrecht cleverly came back into the game. A point is the result, after painful defeats against Fortuna Sittard and Spakenburg.
NEC-UTR | 79′ Barkas prevents goal NEC
After a brilliant pass from Bart van Rooij, Tavsan can only go at Utrecht goalkeeper Barkas, but the Greek comes out victorious. Missed chance for NEC.
NEC-UTR | 67′ GOAL FC UTRECHT!
And there’s the equalizer too! Douvikas with the action, lays the ball back to Boussaid and he taps in. Within no time, Utrecht is level.
NEC-UTR | 63′ GOAL FC UTRECHT!
There is Dost’s goal! Van de Streek lashes out, Cillessen parries, but the rebound is for the incoming striker. We have another game.
HEE-AJA | Taylor in place of Klaassen
Ajax will start with Kenneth Taylor for the away match against sc Heerenveen. The midfielder will be preferred to Davy Klaassen, who will be on the bench when the game gets underway at 2:30 p.m. in a sold-out Abe Lenstra Stadium.
Ajax’s other ten starting players also appeared at kickoff against NEC (1-0) last week. Calvin Bassey starts again at the center of defense. Edson Álvarez is the most defensive midfielder of the visitors from Amsterdam.
Klaassen is suspended with another yellow card. Ajax plays next week at home against Feyenoord.
NEC-UTR | 55′ Dost comes into the squad
Utrecht coach Silberbauer intervenes and brings Labyad to the side. Bas Dost comes in his place, making the visitors want to play more on the attack. Necessary too, given the deficit.
Victor Jensen is played in by goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas and loses the ball to Tannane. Via Mattsson it comes to the feet of Dimata, who scores his second goal of the afternoon.
Dimata scored 6 of his 8 goals in this premier league season after the winter break. Only Vangelis Pavlidis (8) and Anastasios Douvikas (6) scored at least as many goals in 2023.
Excellent attack by NEC, which takes the lead through Landry Dimata. Tannane has a big part in the goal with a clever action and ditto assist.
NEC-UTR | 29′ Free kick Tannane
Oussama Tannane tries from a free kick from far away, but Utrecht goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas taps the ball wide.
NEC-UTR | 19′ Tavsan pops over
Elayis Tavsan sets up an attack on behalf of NEC, combines with Landry Dimata, gets the ball back and then shoots over. Again threat from the home team.
NEC-UTR | Cillessen kept the zero earlier this season
Earlier this season Jasper Cillessen kept the zero against FC Utrecht (0-0). Cillessen previously conceded 11 Eredivisie goals in matches against Utrecht. Only against PSV (16) and AZ (13) did he concede more goals.
NEC-UTR | Hendriks makes debut with Utrecht
Defender Ramon Hendriks is making his debut for FC Utrecht after a serious knee injury. The 21-year-old Hendriks, transferred from Feyenoord in the summer, will start against NEC. The youth international recently played for Jong FC Utrecht in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie.
FC Utrecht rented Hendriks for one year from Feyenoord, with an option to buy. Shortly after his presentation, it appeared that the defender had suffered a torn cruciate ligament. Hendriks, who played eight games for Feyenoord in the premier league last season, had to undergo months of rehabilitation.
Coach Michael Silberbauer has now given the recovered defender a starting place against NEC. Zakaria Labyad will also start again. Bas Dost and Taylor Booth, who were missing for a while due to injury, are on the bench.
We started the duel in Nijmegen, between numbers 10 and 7 of the premier league. The difference between the two teams is currently seven points.
Branthwaite: ‘It gives enormous confidence that someone like Brands believes in you’
From substitute with occasional playing minutes, to being in the starting line-up every game. The 20-year-old Jarrad Branthwaite temporarily swapped Everton for PSV at the beginning of this season and has since surprised friend and foe as a regular.
“It’s already snowed twice since I’ve been here. It just doesn’t stop…,” remarked the tall English central defender earlier this week, now in and dry. It seems to be a true winter wonderland at De Herdgang sports complex, where players and staff ended up in a real snowball fight.
‘Long Gerrit’ Branthwaite draws strength from tattoos and thanks Brands at PSV
NEC’er Sandler on training at Manchester City: ‘Needed three-hour siesta after that’
Playing soccer with Kevin De Bruyne and getting training from Pep Guardiola. It’s a fantasy for many players. For Philippe Sandler, it was reality for a while. “I got along well with the guys there,” says the 26-year-old NEC defender.
That Sandler would one day be under contract to Manchester City, one of the best soccer clubs in the world, he himself never saw coming. The Amsterdam native went through Ajax’s entire youth academy, but according to himself was never seen as the great talent.
And that is perhaps not so strange in a lineup that included Donny van de Beek, Steven Bergwijn, Vaclav Cerny and Abdelhak Nouri. “They were, like Léon Bergsma (now SC Cambuur), Ezra Walian (Persib Bandung) and Vince Gino Dekker (SV Spakenburg) very talented. Guys like Ramiz Zerrouki, Noussair Mazraoui and I were good enough for Ajax, but not decisive.”
