Excelsior through home win over Go Ahead Eagles above the relegation line
NOS Football–
Watch the summary of Excelsior – Go Ahead Eagles
In the fight against relegation from the premier league, Excelsior has dropped out of sixteenth place. The Rotterdammers won 2-1 at home against Go Ahead Eagles, which may also face a tight final phase of the season as a result.
FC Emmen is now the new number sixteen of the premier league, which at the end of the season has to play play-offs for promotion and relegation. The bottom two clubs relegate directly. Emmen will play a tough away game against Ajax on Sunday.
All the goals in Excelsior – Go Ahead fell in the early stages of the second half. Excelsior midfielder Julian Baas became the matchwinner, in a sometimes somewhat unfriendly duel
De Lange blunders
In the mediocre first half, both teams had one good chance. Baas shot a free kick at the crossbar on behalf of Excelsior and on the other side Finn Stokkers managed to shoot hard over from close range.
Shortly after halftime, however, there was plenty of scoring. The first goal was entirely the fault of Eagles goalkeeper Jeffrey de Lange. While Excelsior put high pressure, he wasted the ball in his own penalty area. An attempt by Kik Pierie to score with his heel failed completely, but he unintentionally gave the assist for Couhaib Driouech’s nick: 1-0.
Seven minutes later, it was already level. Go Ahead pumped the ball opportunistically into the penalty area. The ball fell well for the Icelander Willum Thor Willumsson, who scored from close range.
The home team’s response followed almost immediately. Baas received a blocked shot at his feet and was able to strike immediately. The midfielder gave goalkeeper De Lange no chance: 2-1.
Go Ahead was near the equalizer twice more. Stokkers again shot hard over and Excelsior goalkeeper Stijn van Gassel made a fine save on a peal by Mats Deijl. On a corner kick in the final seconds De Lange went forward, but he could not prevent defeat either.
