Fortuna Sittard has started a new football season with a victory for the first time in the last fifteen Eredivisie seasons. The team of trainer Sjors Ultee was just too strong for FC Twente on Saturday evening, where Ricky van Wolfswinkel graced his debut with a goal: 2-1. However, it was debutant Toshio Lake, who had made his appearance after an hour of play, who gave Fortuna the three points with an assist and a winning goal. The last fourteen first games of an Eredivisie season that Fortuna Sittard played until Saturday had ended in a draw (seven) or a defeat (seven).
Fortuna started the match a lot brighter and also played a creditable first half, but it was the visitors from Enschede who went into halftime with a minimal lead. Sjors Ultee’s team was the dominant party in the first twenty minutes, with more fierceness in the duels, although that did not lead to opportunities. Halfway through the first half, FC Twente showed itself more. Queensy Menig’s shot was blocked in time, Van Wolfswinkel shot Roel Janssen’s upper body from close range and then he just came up short to work in an extended ball from Giovanni Troupée.
A riot after a little over half an hour of play, during which Van Wolfswinkel seemed to give a slap and he then got into words with Ultee, led to four yellow cards. Referee Jochem Kamphuis showed Van Wolfswinkel, Mats Seuntjens, Ultee and Ron Jans a yellow print in half a minute. Not long after, the scoreboard started moving. After a smooth attack from the left via Menig, the ball came with some luck at the feet of Van Wolfswinkel, who finished it well: 0-1. Fortuna, where George Cox had to be replaced by debutant Deroy Duarte due to an injury, failed to reach 1-1 before half-time. Goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall stopped Samy Baghdadi from scoring.
The left back of FC Twente also had to drop out injured. Gijs Smal had to be replaced by Mees Hilgers ten minutes after the break and a few minutes later, a second downer for the Enschede team followed. Lake was cold in the field when he sent Seuntjens away: the captain of the Limburgers was just short of offside and passed Unnerstall. Jans had seen enough and a few minutes later chose to let Michal Sadílek and Michel Vlap make their first minutes in the shirt of the Tukkers.
Vlap’s substitute did indeed benefit FC Twente’s game, but it was a Fortuna substitute who once again brought the match off balance. After a phase in which the pace was high and there were more spaces, it was Lake who took the 2-1. The attacker, who came over from Feyenoord this summer and would initially join the Under-21, shot the ball behind Unnerstall.
The Jans team hardly created any chances in the second half and a defeat could not be averted in the final minutes and no less than nine minutes of extra time. For the Limburgers, it equals a club record: ten Eredivisie victories in a calendar year. The last time Fortuna had won ten times in a calendar year was in 1999. Fortuna will play an away match against AZ next Sunday, while FC Twente will play at home against defending champion Ajax the same day.