The duel between Sparta Rotterdam and RKC Waalwijk has not resulted in a winner. The last Eredivisie match of 2021 was played at Het Kasteel, where the scoreboard indicated a 1-1 final score after ninety minutes of football. Tom Beugelsdijk made a terrible mistake prior to Jens Odgaard’s opening goal, but Vito van Crooij prevented a defeat for the Rotterdam team. RKC, which has sixteen points, retains fifteenth place in the ranking; Sparta (thirteen points) enters the winter break in sixteenth position.
Trainer Henk Fraser threw his team over at halftime last weekend when they were 0-2 behind Vitesse. In the end, Sparta fought back to a 2-2 draw. Lennart Thy and Emanuel Emegha, among others, had to clear the field against the Arnhem team, and also started against RKC on the bench. Mario Engels formed the striker duo with Van Crooij. Ahmed Touba was missing from RKC due to family circumstances. In addition, Hans Mulder and Michiel Kramer were preferred over Ayman Azhil and Finn Stokkers.
Tom Beugelsdijk gives a Christmas present to RKC early on… ???? pic.twitter.com/vstch51RIi
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) Dec 23, 2021
The match waved up and down in the opening phase, although no life-size chance was noted. The game was broken open in the 27th minute by a showy mistake. Beugelsdijk wanted to pass the ball back to goalkeeper Maduka Okoye, but his pass lacked speed. Odgaard could easily intercept and then scored the 0-1. It was the fourth game in a row that the Dane scored. The last RKC player to do so was Rick Hoogendorp, who also scored in four consecutive matches in 2005.
Sparta equalized five minutes before the halftime signal. A corner from the right ended up past the far post at the feet of Adil Auassar, who put the ball on the edge of the five-meter area for Van Crooij. The right striker was able to finish with one foot movement: 1-1. In the second act, the entertainment value diminished and the spell was no longer broken. Sparta did take the initiative and hoped to break through the status quo through Mohammed Osman and Giannis Masouras, among others, but both lacked fortune in the completion. In the final phase, substitute Roy Kuijpers failed to capitalize on a good opportunity on behalf of RKC.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PSV | 18 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 22 | 43 |
| 2 | Ajax | 18 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 52 | 42 |
| 3 | Feyenoord | 18 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 25 | 39 |
| 4 | Vitesse | 18 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 33 |
| 5 | AZ | 18 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 32 |
| 6 | FC Twente | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 32 |
| 7 | FC Utrecht | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 29 |
| 8 | SC Cambuur | 18 | 9 | 1 | 8 | -7 | 28 |
| 9 | NEC | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | -2 | 25 |
| 10 | sc Heerenveen | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | -5 | 25 |
| 11 | Go Ahead Eagles | 18 | 6 | 3 | 9 | -10 | 21 |
| 12 | Fc Groningen | 18 | 4 | 7 | 7 | -7 | 19 |
| 13 | Heracles Almelo | 18 | 5 | 3 | 10 | -5 | 18 |
| 14 | William II | 18 | 5 | 3 | 10 | -18 | 18 |
| 15 | RKC Waalwijk | 18 | 3 | 7 | 8 | -11 | 16 |
| 16 | Sparta Rotterdam | 18 | 2 | 7 | 9 | -12 | 13 |
| 17 | Fortuna Sittard | 18 | 3 | 4 | 11 | -27 | 13 |
| 18 | PEC Zwolle | 18 | 1 | 3 | 14 | -23 | 6 |