Groningen equalizes just before halftime – PEC not on promotion course

GRO – UTR | 52′ First minutes of second half messy, but entertaining

FC Utrecht had a great chance just after halftime through Victor Jensen. He shot wide. FC Groningen also put a lot of energy into the match.

The Groningers did so with Damil Dankerlui and Florian Krüger in place of Liam van Gelderen and Tomas Suslov. These substitutions took place at halftime, making six changes already.

NED – DUI | 53′ GOAL GERMANY

Where the Netherlands fails to take the lead, Germany does make a Tor. Sydney Lohmann kicks in a goal.

PEC not on promotion course

If it stays that way PEC Zwolle will have to postpone the promotion party for a while. PEC and FC Eindhoven keep each other in balance (2-2), while Almere City is ahead against Jong AZ (2-1).

If PEC wants to celebrate tonight then it has to win by itself and lose PEC.

NED – DUI | 46′ Another chance for Holland and Beerensteyn

Even in the second half, chances continue to pile up for the Netherlands and Lineth Beerensteyn. She should score, but misses. In the rebound, Van de Donk shoots at the post.

First half Groningen – Utrecht ‘finally’ over

Due to the many injuries, referee Jeroen Manschot drew an extra ten minutes of time. That’s why the first half is only now over. If the second half is going to look like the injury time, the second game promises to be a spectacle.

GRO – UTR | 45+10 GOAL GRONINGEN

Deep in injury time of the first half, Groningen makes the equalizer. Oliver Antman shoots the ball in through Nick Viergever. After the goal the beer flew through the air, but the atmosphere did not suffer.

GRO – UTR | 45+7 GOAL UTRECHT

There’s the premier league’s top scorer again. Tasos Douvikas whips the ball past Groningen goalkeeper Michael Verrips. So Utrecht is ahead, while this is not in line with the game image at all.

Groningen had a big chance through Ricardo Pepi just before.

Helmond Sport – MVV resumed again

Calm has returned to Helmond and so Helmond Sport and MVV have been playing soccer for almost ten minutes.

Holland and Germany go to rest

The first half at the match between the Netherlands and Germany is over. Just before halftime, the Netherlands had several great chances. Lieke Martens, Lineth Beerensteyn and Daniëlle van de Donk could have opened the score, but failed to do so. So the glasses position is still on the board in Sittard.

GRO – UTR | 40′ Battlefield without being grim

After dropping Othman Boussaid and Ramon Hendriks, Groningen defender Jetro Willems and Taylor Booth (Utrecht) are also injured. Willems suffers from his hamstring and is relieved by Laros Duarte. Booth is bleeding from his head. Victor Jensen replaces him.

NED-DUI | 31′ Chances for the Netherlands and Germany

Meanwhile, the first serious chances are created in the women’s international. Lineth Beerensteyn goes alone for the Netherlands on German goalie Merle Frohms, but misses. A minute later, Germany’s Tabea Wassmuth gets a great chance. She too jumps sloppily with the opportunity and so there is still no scoring.

Helmond Sport – MVV halted

In the Keuken Kampioen Division, the match between Helmond Sport and MVV was halted because supporters from Maastricht threw fireworks on the field.

GRO-UTR | 28′ Tough moment for Hendriks

Ramon Hendriks leaves the field stricken. The defender badly injured his knee in the summer and made his debut in the first team of FC Utrecht last month. Now the former Feyenoord player seems to have sustained damage to his knee again.

Van der Maarel replaces Hendriks.

NED-DUI | 20′ Not a spectacular start

The Netherlands and Germany are probing. The match has yet to produce any major chances. Lieke Martens did fire another shot, but it went well over.

GRO-UTR | 18′ early substitution FC Utrecht

Othman Boussaid was already not armpit fresh in the warm-up and does not last long in the match. After more than fifteen minutes he leaves the field. Bart Ramselaar comes in.

GRO-UTR 15′ | No major chances yet

Utrecht and Groningen keep each other in balance in the first fifteen minutes. Both teams give a few pinpricks, but do not create any big chances yet.

Netherlands and Germany also started match

The practice match between the Netherlands and Germany started a little later. There was nothing special going on. The ceremonies took a little longer than expected.

Anyway, the ball rolled in this match as well.

Groningen and Utrecht kick off premier league weekend

The 28th round of major league play is underway. Groningen and Utrecht have kicked off.

Nicole Anyomi dropped out in the warm-up. She is replaced by Svenja Huth.

Formation Netherlands, Jonker says nothing about formation

National coach Andries Jonker has chosen the eleven names below. It is not known which poppets are where. He did not want to reveal that before the match either. Jonker tells reporter Rivkah op het Veld that he does not want to make the Germans any wiser than they are.

FC Groningen lineup, Chalus replaces Blokzijl

FC Groningen suffered a defeat against Fortuna (1-3) in Sittard last Sunday. Compared to that match, coach Dennis van der Ree made some changes.

The young bright spot of this season, Thijmen Blokzijl (18), is injured on his ankle. His place will be taken by Matej Chalus.

In addition, Isak Määttä and Delaho Irandustin are in the starting lineup. This is at the expense of Ragnar Oratmangoen and Elvis Manu.

FC Utrecht lineup, Boussaid for Ramselaar

FC Utrecht got the ball into the enemy goal three times in the previous match, but still played a 0-0 draw against FC Volendam. Three goals were disallowed and that led to incomprehension on the Utrecht side.

Trainer Michael Silberbauer sends almost the same names into the field. The only change is Othman Boussaid for Bart Ramselaar.

In an hour and a half, it will go wild

In an hour and a half, kick-off will take place on several fields. In the premier league the ailing FC Groningen takes on FC Utrecht. The Groningers can/should take the much-needed points at home in the battle for relegation.

PEC Zwolle can actually promote itself to the premier league tonight. It must then win the away match against FC Eindhoven while number three Almere City must lose at home to Jong AZ.

Furthermore, the soccer players of the Dutch national team play a practice match in Sittard against losing European Championship finalist Germany.

Lighter-thrower Feyenoord-Ajax gets area ban for all soccer stadiums

The man who threw a lighter at Ajax midfielder Davy Klaassen in De Kuip on Wednesday night has been banned from all stadiums in the Netherlands. He is not allowed to enter the stadium from two hours before a match in professional soccer. The ban applies until two hours after the soccer match.

The Feyenoord supporter must later answer to the police judge for his action. He may await his trial at liberty, the justice department said. The 32-year-old Feyenoord supporter is suspected of assault.

Pröpper back at FC Twente

Defender Robin Pröpper can play with FC Twente in Sunday’s home match against SC Cambuur. The captain was missing last week’s meeting with Excelsior (0-0) due to a slight pneumonia. Norwegian midfielder Mathias Kjølø also returns to the squad.

“More and more players are coming back and that is positive news,” said coach Ron Jans, who does still miss Michal Sadilek, Manfred Ugalde and Mees Hilgers.

Gerbrands is going to help Vitesse management

Toon Gerbrands is going to assist Vitesse’s board “in the background.” The 65-year-old Gerbrands was general manager at AZ from 2002 to 2014 and held the same position at PSV from 2014 to 2022.

He will support general manager ad interim Peter Rovers and the rest of the organization as coach, Vitesse said. “We cannot ignore the fact that these are difficult times, but we are going full steam ahead to improve our situation on all fronts and set the right course,” , Rovers said.

Ajax and PSV both get 17,500 tickets for cup final

Ajax and PSV will both get 17,500 tickets for the cup final on Sunday, April 30, at De Kuip. As usual, the KNVB will reserve three-quarters of the stadium for the supporters of two finalists. The remaining 25 percent goes to sponsors, employees and relations of the KNVB and to the organization of Stadion Feijenoord as host of the final.

Ajax-PSV is a repeat of last year’s cup final. The Eindhoven natives came back from a 1-0 deficit (2-1) in the second half. PSV will start selling the 17,500 available tickets on Tuesday, Ajax a day later. The final on April 30 begins at 6 p.m.

Feyenoord player Lutsharel ‘definitely back in selection’ on Sunday

Lutsharel Geertruida will be back in the Feyenoord squad on Sunday. Coach Arne Slot said that Friday at the press conference ahead of the game against RKC.

“Lutsharel has been training again for a week. He would have loved to have been with the squad last Wednesday. But we thought that was just too risky because he wasn’t completely pain-free yet. But he will definitely be back in the squad on Sunday.” A starting place is also an option, for the slightly injured Oranje international. “One week out, who is just available to be a base player.”

More good news for the Premier League frontrunner: goalkeeper Justin Bijlow is training on the pitch again. “Justin returned to training for the first time this week. Those are short training sessions, but it’s good to see.” Whether Bijlow can play next Thursday against AS Roma, Slot is still holding back. “It could be, in the end Justin is our first goalkeeper, but on the other hand Timon Wellenreuther is also doing very well.”

Slot: ‘For every person there is a limit, not only here in the stadium but also off the pitch’

Feyenoord coach Arne Slot prefers to focus on RKC, next Sunday’s opponent, two days after the lighter incident against Ajax. His words from Wednesday after the match are adequate, the coach says, but looking back Slot does address the issue more broadly.

“For every person there is a limit, not only here in the stadium but also off the field,” Slot said. “You would be incredibly happy if we could flush society back 10, 15, 20 years in terms of how we treat each other. But that is unfortunately not possible.”

Is there a specific role for the Feyenoord coach in this issue? “Not only me as a trainer,” Slot said. “But we all have the task of making the world a little more pleasant.”

“It is abundantly clear that the soccer world is constantly used as a role model. That is also a good thing. In corona days, everything had to close and we played soccer because it made people enjoy themselves. That’s hopefully still true today. And so we also have a role model function when it comes to behavior.”

Lock: “It would be great if we could eliminate it within the soccer industry and that it is also eliminated in everyday life. Because that issue is at least as big, I dare say.”

Cocu misses Vitesse-Go Ahead Eagles due to surgery

Vitesse coach Phillip Cocu will be missing from the bench for his team’s home match against Go Ahead Eagles on Sunday. Cocu (52) had to undergo surgery this week due to appendicitis.

His assistant Chris van der Weerden is therefore sitting by the side as the person in charge at the end. “The operation went well,” van der Weerden said. “Hopefully Phillip will come out well and be back on his feet within a few days. We are just doing our job and preparing as best we can for this important match.”

Vitesse, who are only just above the relegation zone, do have midfielder Matus Bero and defender Maximilian Wittek available again, who were missing from last week’s lost away game with RKC.

Noppert has to undergo surgery on groin

Andries Noppert will also be out of action for sc Heerenveen in the coming weeks. The goalkeeper initially hoped to recover from his groin injury without surgery, but now an operation appears necessary.

Heerenveen reports that it is unclear whether Noppert will be in action this season. Xavier Mous has been first goalkeeper in coach Kees van Wonderen’s team since Noppert’s absence. Heerenveen, which is in ninth place in the Eredivisie, plays a home match against FC Volendam on Saturday.

Benítez kicks off against Excelsior, Drommel in cup final

Ruud van Nistelrooij can again have goalkeeper Walter Benítez at his disposal this weekend, who had injured his knee in early March. The Argentine will start tomorrow against Excelsior at the expense of Joël Drommel.

‘We know that Joël has done very well and he will play again in the cup final,” Van Nistelrooij said at the press conference ahead of the game with Excelsior. “But now Benítez is fit again and so we can expect him to be under the crossbar again Saturday. He is back from injury and will play again.”

Olivier Boscagli and Anwar El Ghazi are also fit enough to be in action tomorrow.

Depay backs Lukaku, who was racially targeted

Memphis Depay has expressed his support on social media for Internazionale striker Romelu Lukaku, who was repeatedly treated racially by Juve fans during the cup match with Juventus. The Oranje international updated his profile picture on Twitter to an image of Lukaku and called fellow footballers to action on Instagram.

“If we take action together we can really change this,” Depay wrote. “Then we can tackle this disease like we should.”

Degradation looms for FC Groningen: ‘This club doesn’t belong in first division’

After 23 years, premier league soccer in the city and province of Groningen seems to be coming to an end. The local FC is experiencing a disastrous season and with seven games to go is in seventeenth place. A position that leads to relegation to the Keuken Kampioen Divisie. The difference with place sixteen, which still obliges to play nacompetitie, is already seven points.

It seems a difficult task to close that gap, especially when you consider that four of the seven opponents Groningen still has to face are in the left row. Still, there are fans with hope, as evidenced by the optimistic letter that supporter Wiebe handed to Groningen coach Dennis van der Ree: “I have to help the boys.”

Interim coach Van der Ree, who is leaving after this season to make room for new head coach Dick Lukkien, appreciates the gesture.

But he also realizes that it is code red in Groningen: “Degradation is a disaster, this club does not belong in the first division. It’s a big club that should play at least middle or higher in the premier league. For the people who put all the work into it and the supporters who are always there, away or at home, it would be a disaster.”

VI: ‘Ajax nearing agreement with Mislintat’

Ajax appears to be finally set to appoint a new technical director after a search of some 14 months. According to Voetbal International the Amsterdam club is close to an agreement with Sven Mislintat.

The 50-year-old German, formerly active in technical positions at Stuttgart, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund, among others, will be Marc Overmars’ successor. Jan van Halst was already nominated yesterday as soccer commissioner for the rvc.