Heracles Almelo put an end to Willem II’s winning streak in the Eredivisie on Saturday. Frank Wormuth’s team was 3-2 too strong at home for the Tilburgers, who had nine points left from the last three games. The winning goal appeared on the scoreboard in the last minute of extra time. Willem II thus fails to come next to leader Ajax and gets stuck at sixteen points, while Heracles rises to tenth place with ten points.
After fifteen minutes of play, Willem II had to deal with a downer. Left back Derrick Köhn was injured and had to be replaced by Max Svensson. The number of highlights on Erve Asito in the first 45 minutes could be counted on one hand. In the opening phase, Timon Wellenreuther was tested by Kaj Sierhuis, Mats Knoester and Delano Burgzorg, but then the game came to a halt on both sides.
A few minutes before the break, the match in Almelo was brought out of balance. Ulrik Jenssen took Sierhuis’s left foot with him and referee Rob Dieperink pointed resolutely to the spot. Vloet did not fail from eleven meters, although Wellenreuther was still close to the ball: 1-0. Since the start of last season, only four players have been involved in more goals in the Eredivisie than Vloet (25: 18 goals and 7 assists): Dusan Tadic (40), Steven Berghuis (38), Donyell Malen and Giorgio Giakoumakis (both 27) .
Heracles flew out of the starting blocks after the break and was immediately close to the 2-0. First Vloet hit the post and in the rebound Burgzorg aimed just wide. After 53 minutes of play it was hit. Jenssen wanted to play the ball back, but was well hindered by Vloet. Burgzorg could therefore only rely on Wellenreuther and take care of the 2-0. The goalkeeper was furious at Dieperink, who received a yellow card for his tirade.
Willem II came back into the game after 66 minutes: Mats Köhlert struck from a distance and saw his shot fly through a Heracles leg against the ropes. Fred Grim’s team wanted more and was unlucky that Janis Blaswich had a stylish save on a bet from Svensson. Not much later, the substitute made it 2-2: he came in and shot the ball very hidden in the bottom corner. Heracles took three points in the last minute of extra time when it was precisely former Willem II player Ismail Azzaoui who got the ball at the far post and shot it into the roof of the goal: 3-2.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajax | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 19 |
| 2 | William II | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| 3 | Feyenoord | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 15 |
| 4 | PSV | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 15 |
| 5 | FC Utrecht | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 14 |
| 6 | FC Twente | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 |
| 7 | sc Heerenveen | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 13 |
| 8 | SC Cambuur | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 12 |
| 9 | Heracles Almelo | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 10 |
| 10 | Vitesse | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | -8 | 10 |
| 11 | NEC | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | -7 | 8 |
| 12 | Go Ahead Eagles | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | -9 | 7 |
| 13 | AZ | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| 14 | RKC Waalwijk | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -3 | 6 |
| 15 | Fc Groningen | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -7 | 6 |
| 16 | Sparta Rotterdam | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | -8 | 6 |
| 17 | Fortuna Sittard | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -7 | 5 |
| 18 | PEC Zwolle | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | -12 | 1 |