Willem II won the top match in the Kitchen Champion Division. The Tilburg team won 0-1 against Roda JC Kerkrade thanks to a striking shot from Thijs Oosting. Roda remains the leader for the time being, although it has to passively watch that Willem II has equalized on points. Moreover, ADO Den Haag, which has played one match less and has two points less, can definitively take over the lead.
Compared to the Limburg derby against VVV-Venlo (1-1), Teun Bijleveld was not there. He was replaced by Laurit Krasniqi. Furthermore, trainer Bas Sibum made no changes. Striker Maximilian Schmid was supported at his back by Walid Ould-Chikh, Enrique Peña Zauner and Sami Ouaissa.
On Willem II’s side, two changes took place in the line-up. Tommy St. Jago and Nick Doodeman replaced Freek Heerkens and Max Svensson respectively. Jeremy Bokila, who scored three goals as a substitute in the last two matches, once again had to settle for a reserve role. Jeredy Hilterman was preferred as striker.
Both teams had chances in the opening phase. For example, Peña Zauner shot over, Jesse Bosch put a ball into the hands of Roda goalie Koen Bucker and Ouaissa’s shot went behind Rúnar Thór Sigurgeirsson. Yet a goal would still be scored within fifteen minutes. Oosting decided to take a swing and his hard blow proved untenable for Bucker: 0-1.
Roda soon had a huge opportunity to score the equalizer. Peña Zauner got rid of his direct opponent and seemed to be able to run the ball in easily, except that he hit the ball completely wrong. Willem II goalie Joshua Smits was able to easily collect the ball. William II then took over the initiative again. First of all, a tight cross from Sigurgeirsson could not be cleared by either Oosting or Hilterman. Ringo Meerveld also came very close. The central midfielder’s shot hit the crossbar.
In the phase before half time it was Roda that struck again. The 10,631 supporters in the Parkstad Limburg Stadium thought that Brian Koglin, who scored accurately against VVV last week. However, his header ended up on the roof of the goal, which led to deception among some of the supporters. Orhan Dzepar also almost scored the equalizer. His shot from the edge of sixteen flew over, after which Ould-Chikh shot wide in injury time.
Roda started the second half sharply, but a goal was just not possible the Koempels. For example, Smits had an answer to an attempt by Peña Zauner and Wesley Spieringhs, ex-Willem II, shot just wide of the Tilburg goal. Peña Zauner turned out to be the most dangerous man on Roda’s side. His cross just couldn’t be converted into an assist by Schmid, after which the Venezuelan tried it again himself. Smits had a lot of trouble with his bet, but still managed to turn around.
In the final phase, Roda went even further. Ould-Chikh came across Smits and the hosts had a number of excellent heading opportunities in the absolute final phase. The biggest was for Saydou Bangura, who aimed a few centimeters too high. Willem II held his ground and achieved a handsome and important victory in Kerkrade.
| No. | Team | M | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roda JC Kerkrade | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 23 |
| 2 | William II | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 23 |
| 3 | Ado den Haag | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 21 |
| 4 | FC Emmen | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 18 |
| 5 | VVV Venlo | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 18 |
| 6 | FC Dordrecht | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 17 |
| 7 | FC Eindhoven | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 17 |
| 8 | The County | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 17 |
| 9 | NAC Breda | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 17 |
| 10 | Helmond Sports | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 16 |
| 11 | Young AZ | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 14 |
| 12 | SC Cambuur | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | -1 | 14 |
| 13 | Young PSV | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | -6 | 13 |
| 14 | Fc Groningen | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 13 |
| 15 | Young FC Utrecht | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | -7 | 11 |
| 16 | MVV Maastricht | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 11 |
| 17 | FC Den Bosch | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | -7 | 9 |
| 18 | Telstar | 11 | 2 | 1 | 8 | -11 | 7 |
| 19 | Young Ajax | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | -12 | 5 |
| 20 | TOP Oss | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | -9 | 4 |
Voetbalzone is the official media partner of the Kitchen Champion Division
Click here for exclusive interviews, talent scouts, current standings and the program on our Kitchen Champion Division page.