PSV and Feyenoord held each other in check on Sunday afternoon in an entertaining top match in the Philips Stadium: 1-1. Despite a strong initial phase, the home team fell behind due to a long shot by Steven Berghuis. PSV straightened their back and came back strongly in the game. Even before half time, Donyell Malen made the equalizer beautifully. Furthermore, the team of trainer Roger Schmidt did not come, so that leader Ajax can run even further in the title race in the Eredivisie later this Sunday against PEC Zwolle.
PSV really got off the starting blocks in Eindhoven. In the first three minutes, Ibrahim Sangaré saw a header just past the goal of Feyenoord, while the visitors also got away well with a hard bang from Philipp Max. After eleven minutes, the alert Nick Marsman skilfully saved on a bet by Malen. Afterwards, the PSV storm died down somewhat and Feyenoord crawled out of its shell after the siege in the first fifteen minutes. That resulted in the opening goal of Berghuis in the fifteenth minute. The captain was passed just outside the penalty area, turned in and shot the ball with precision into the far corner past the helpless Yvon Mvogo. Great joy, of course, at Feyenoord, which then had several great opportunities to expand its lead.
Schmidt about PSV – Feyenoord: ‘Learned from the previous match’
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Bryan Linssen could and perhaps should have brought Feyenoord to 0-2 from close range, while Lutsharel Geertruida, who came along, also failed in a promising position. Luis Sinisterra shot in between after a measured cross from the right side of Berghuis. PSV was spared greater suffering, however, and it was precisely on the other side that a goal was scored in the 38th minute. A truly beautiful pass from Mario Götze ended up at Malen, who then passed the hatched Marsman with a nice lob: 1-1. Shortly before the half-time signal from referee Bas Nijhuis, Linssen encountered the alert Mvogo, so that both teams started the half-time with a tie.
After the break, PSV made frantic attempts to take the lead, but in many cases Marsman was the great hero of Feyenoord. In the initial phase of the second half, the closing post made Malen and substitute Noni Madueke harmless. At half-time, the returned Cody Gakpo was left behind in the PSV dressing room. Jordan Teze took the place of Nick Viergever at the heart of the defense. About ten minutes before the end there was another notable incident involving Orkun Kökçü, who seemed to deliberately hit Olivier Boscagli from behind. Nijhuis, however, refused to punish the Feyenoord midfielder with a yellow or red card.
A few minutes before the end, Schmidt decided to replace the fairly invisible Eran Zahavi for Yorbe Vertessen. Colleague Dick Advocaat made his only substitution in the 72nd minute, with Ridgeciano Haps relieving the weary Sinisterra. PSV still tried, but the liberating second goal also failed to materialize in the three minutes of injury time. The backlog on Ajax is five points. Including the visit to PEC, the leader still has two matches and is in pole position for the league title in the Eredivisie.