FC Twente women conquer KNVB cup and give season luster after all
NOS Football–
Twente women drag in cup; they thunder over PSV after halftime
At the Bingoal Stadium in The Hague, the FC Twente women won the KNVB Cup by beating PSV 4-0 in the final.
Based on the competition, Twente was the big favorite. Coach Joran Pot’s team was leading for a long time until Ajax passed them at the very last moment and took the national title. PSV ended up in fourth place.
The Eindhoveners started dangerously, but did not sustain it. A somewhat lukewarm first half followed, in which both teams lost a lot of ball. Still, the game took place mainly in the PSV half. Twente dominated, but was never really dangerous.
Dhont fails to score, Jansen does
It wasn’t until the 36th minute that Twente’s best chance up to that point came. Belgium’s Elena Dhont shot on the cross against the crossbar.
As is often the case with Twente, the frustration of missing chances suddenly turned into goals. In the 41st minute, it was on target. Renate Jansen shot past PSV goalkeeper Daniëlle de Jong after an assist from Anna-Lena Stolze, who has been injured for a long time: 1-0.
Right after halftime, PSV, coach Rick de Rooij’s team, started stronger and came close to the equalizer. But a shot by Chimera Ripa went just wide.
Twente then crawled through the eye of the needle several more times, but fifteen minutes later they dealt the second blow. Kim Everaerts got the ball past three defenders and scored: 2-0.
Coach De Rooij’s team had a few more nice chances, including a free kick in the penalty area, but the ball did not go in.
Some luck
Twente already had the spoils. In the 87th minute, Dhont made it 3-0, then was substituted for Bente Janssen, who, after a throw-in back at keeper, took the ball from De Jong and, with some luck, made it 4-0.
For FC Twente losing the national championship was a big disappointment, Ajax hoisted the scale. Nevertheless, in the cup final, the Tukkers put “a crown on a fantastic season” in their own words.
For Twente it is the fourth KNVB Cup final. In 2008, the Tukkers defeated FC Utrecht 3-1. In 2013, the club lost the cup final after penalty kicks against ADO Den Haag. In 2015, Twente was 3-2 too strong for Ajax.
