PSV won its first game for the public since the end of September on Saturday evening. Roger Schmidt’s team had the bad luck against FC Groningen that three goals were rejected, but a penalty kick from Eran Zahavi turned out to be enough for a deserved victory: 1-0. A minute of silence was held before the match in memory of Willy van der Kuijlen. The PSV club icon died on Monday at the age of 74 from Alzheimer’s. PSV is three points ahead of AZ in second place, which will visit leader Ajax on Sunday.
The first danger in the game came after fifteen minutes from Cody Gakpo’s foot. The attacking midfielder of PSV took the ball out of the air from a distance and hit the bar hard. On the other side, goalkeeper Yvon Mvogo got away well when he slipped and was able to head off a high back pass. PSV then created two big chances for the opening goal. Donyell Malen slipped past the sliding Ko Itakura and wanted to outplay Sergio Padt, but shot the body of the FC Groningen goalie.
Moments later, Malen dribbled past a number of FC Groningen defenders with some fortune and set low on Ibrahim Sangaré. The PSV midfielder seemed to be able to tap in from close range, but Itakura miraculously saved the visitors on the goal line. After the break, Groningen made an attacking appearance for the first time. Mo El Hankouri rushed past Denzel Dumfries on the left and put a low pass on Ahmed El Messaoudi, who hit the post.
Sportsmanship of Denzel Dumfries ?? ?? ESPN # ?? #psvgro pic.twitter.com/9I78zxni1K
– ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) April 24, 2021
The initiative then came back to PSV, which thought it would score after a wonderful combination between Malen and Dumfries. Eran Zahavi tapped in from Dumfries’ low cross, but the ball had been behind and so the goal was canceled. Seven minutes later, PSV was in the hands of an arbitral decision, when Donyell Malen shot the ball hard against the arm of Wessel Dammers and referee Jeroen Manschop pointed to the spot. Zahavi shot the ball through the middle and gave PSV the lead: 1-0.
Another seven minutes later, Malen just got the ball pushed in the feet by El Hankouri. The PSV striker sent Gakpo deep, who finished the job with the left. However, this goal was also disallowed, because Gakpo was narrowly offside. Zahavi then hit the ball from close range wrong after a beautiful front action and cross from Malen and Gakpo also killed a big chance. The latter first cut out a defender and then shot wide through Padt’s body. Moments later, another goal from Malen was rejected, which was sent deep by Dumfries but was in an offside position. Groningen launched a final offensive and goalkeeper Padt of all things headed wide from a corner kick in injury time.
| No. | Team | M. | W. | G. | V. | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajax | 29 | 23 | 4 | 2 | 66 | 73 |
| 2 | PSV | 30 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 35 | 64 |
| 3 | AZ | 29 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 28 | 61 |
| 4 | Vitesse | 29 | 17 | 5 | 7 | 18 | 56 |
| 5 | Feyenoord | 29 | 15 | 9 | 5 | 29 | 54 |
| 6 | Fc Groningen | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 46 |
| 7 | FC Utrecht | 29 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 44 |
| 8 | Heracles Almelo | 29 | 11 | 6 | 12 | -8 | 39 |
| 9 | FC Twente | 29 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 37 |
| 10 | sc Heerenveen | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | -3 | 37 |
| 11 | Sparta Rotterdam | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | -4 | 37 |
| 12 | PEC Zwolle | 30 | 8 | 11 | 11 | -6 | 35 |
| 13 | Fortuna Sittard | 29 | 10 | 4 | 15 | -12 | 34 |
| 14 | RKC Waalwijk | 30 | 6 | 8 | 16 | -18 | 26 |
| 15 | Willem II | 30 | 6 | 7 | 17 | -29 | 25 |
| 16 | VVV Venlo | 30 | 6 | 4 | 20 | -38 | 22 |
| 17 | FC Emmen | 29 | 4 | 9 | 16 | -28 | 21 |
| 18 | Ado den Haag | 29 | 2 | 10 | 17 | -42 | 16 |