Sunday afternoon it was a match with two faces in the Hitachi Capital Mobility Stadium. Piet Velthuizen, who had returned to the Eredivisie, retired after 22 minutes with a hamstring injury, forcing Fortuna Sittard to bring in Alexei Koselev. On the other hand, there was joy at the home club, because winter gain Paulos Abraham signed for his first goals in the FC Groningen shirt. The Pride of the North eventually managed to win 1-0 against Fortuna.
For Velthuizen, who got playing time in the Eredivisie for the first time since 2014, it went wrong after more than twenty minutes of play in Groningen. The goalkeeper grabbed his hamstrings and it soon became clear that a substitution had become inevitable. Fortuna could have been 0-1 ahead at that time. Lisandro Semedo, however, failed in the third minute in a promising position, to the relief of Groningen goalkeeper Sergio Padt. After that, the home team took the initiative, although that did not lead to a lead halfway through the encounter with the Limburgers, despite the fact that a cross over Velthuizen ended up in the goal. However, referee Jannick van der Laan rejected the goal due to offside.
Paulos Abraham in ecstasy after his first goal on behalf of FC Groningen.
Trainer Danny Buijs made a change in half time, with Abraham relieving Jörgen Strand Larsen, who was injured shortly before half time, in the vanguard of Groningen. A golden grab from the trainer, because Abraham broke the ban five minutes after his entrance. The Swedish attacker reacted very alert to a nice cross from Tomas Suslov, after which Koselev was passed in a controlled manner: 1-0. After an hour of play, Suslov could have exchanged his role of declarant for that of finisher. After good preparatory work by Alessio Da Cruz, however, the Slovak midfielder shot hard wide of Fortuna’s goal.
The bringing in of Abraham seemed to gain even more value in minute 80. Abraham thought he had made the 2-0 for Groningen, but on the advice of the VAR, referee Van der Laan rejected the Swede’s goal. Abraham was in an offside position when he worked the ball into Fortuna’s goal. The canceled goal ultimately had no consequences for Groningen, which gives the sixth place in the Eredivisie with the home victory extra shine. Fortuna remains in nine position due to the defeat in the far north.