Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 10:57 PM• Last update: 23:07

SC Heerenveen has remained unbeaten in the Eredivisie on Saturday evening for the fourth game in a row to visit Heracles Almelo. The team of trainer Johnny Jansen needed a revival from Joey Veerman to secure the three points: 0-1. The midfielder knocked Janis Blaswich from over twenty meters with a measured kick in the right corner. Due to the victory, Heerenveen climbs no fewer than three places and reports with place eight in the left row. Heracles, which was unbeaten five home matches in a row prior to the game against Heerenveen, continues to struggle and has to settle for fourteenth place.

Heracles received a huge blow in the middle of the week with the injury of Ismail Azzaoui. The attacker dropped out against Feyenoord with a knee injury and will have to miss the rest of the season. Heracles thus once again loses creativity, after Rai Vloet had already dropped out due to his involvement in a fatal accident. The match against Erve Asito had a lively initial phase with opportunities from both sides. Rami Kaib failed to give the visitors the lead, while a shot from Nikolai Laursen was caught by Xavier Mous. Heracles had a slight predominance in the first half, but had to see how the better chances were for the Frisians.

The largest were for Henk Veerman. First, the striker shot into the side net on a pass from Anthony Musaba, after which he forgot to keep his head cool on the stroke of half-time in a promising position and aimed narrowly over the crossing. Even after the break, the game went back and forth. Blaswich had a good save on a shot by Musaba and Marco Rente also prevented the Heerenveen attacker from scoring with an excellent sliding. On the other side, Laursen was closest to the tying run. The winger moved in from the right side of the field and looked for the far corner, but saw his effort bounce back into the field through the bottom of the bar.

In the final phase, Heracles emphatically went on the hunt for the equalizer, creating more space for Jansen’s team. It led to the only goal of the game ten minutes before the end. Joey Veerman picked up the ball from Siem de Jong and made an effective shot into the right corner. It marked the third goal of the season for the midfielder. Shortly before that, Noah Fadiga shot into Mous’ hands and Delano Burgzorg’s shot went wide. For Heracles, it only meant the third defeat of the season at home, having previously lost to PSV and NEC.