Vitesse has done itself a particularly disservice in an attempt to get away from the bottom spots. On a visit to RKC Waalwijk, Phillip Cocu’s team lost 1-0 due to a goal from Michiel Kramer. Due to FC Emmen’s victory earlier in the evening at SC Cambuur (0-1), the team from Arnhem is now equal in points with the number sixteen Excelsior, which also achieved a result on Saturday (0-0 against FC Twente). RKC rises nicely to eighth place.
At Vitesse, this week was mainly about peripheral matters. For example, the club’s professional license was at risk due to a conflict with the stadium owner and came the Guardian with the story that Roman Abramovich had pumped more than a hundred million euros into the club. In the sporting field, Cocu’s team has not been doing well for a while. Not one of the last five league matches has been won. Also against RKC it was not possible to polish up the blazon somewhat.
The home team created the first danger of the game after just three minutes, when Kjell Scherpen was forced to save in two instances on a bet by Mats Seuntjens. Florian Jozefzoon also did not have his sights sharp and saw the Vitesse goalkeeper save. It didn’t take long for the offensive drive to be rewarded. After half an hour of play, Michiel Kramer was able to finish convincingly after preparatory work by Seuntjens.
Then minutes after the opening goal, Jozefzoon seemed to score for the 2-0, but his goal was disallowed for offside. Even after the break, the best chances were for NEC. After Million Manhoef first saw a pruning hard shot by Etienne Vaessen, Pelle Clement was given the opportunity to increase the margin to two. The midfielder was completely released by former RKC player Melle Meulensteen, but saw his header go wide.
Cocu tried to force something in the last quarter of the match with the introduction of youngster Simon van Duivenbooden, but only created significant opportunities in dribs and drabs. Another substitute, Miliano Jonathans, came closest to equalising. His flaming shot of more than twenty meters was whipped cat-like out of the goal by Vaessen. The corner that followed could be taken off the line by Seuntjens. The last achievement of the match, a shot by Said Bakari, ended up wide of Scherpen’s goal in stoppage time.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | v | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feyenoord | 26 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 34 | 61 |
| 2 | PSV | 27 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 38 | 56 |
| 3 | Ajax | 26 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 44 | 55 |
| 4 | AZ | 27 | 16 | 6 | 5 | 22 | 54 |
| 5 | FC Twente | 27 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 22 | 48 |
| 6 | Sparta Rotterdam | 26 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 46 |
| 7 | FC Utrecht | 26 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 38 |
| 8 | RKC Waalwijk | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 35 |
| 9 | sc Heerenveen | 27 | 9 | 8 | 10 | -5 | 35 |
| 10 | NEC | 27 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 34 |
| 11 | Go Ahead Eagles | 25 | 7 | 8 | 10 | -8 | 29 |
| 12 | Fortuna Sittard | 26 | 8 | 5 | 13 | -14 | 29 |
| 13 | FC Volendam | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | -25 | 26 |
| 14 | Vitesse | 27 | 5 | 9 | 13 | -17 | 24 |
| 15 | FC Emmen | 27 | 5 | 9 | 13 | -21 | 24 |
| 16 | Excelsior | 27 | 7 | 3 | 17 | -36 | 24 |
| 17 | Fc Groningen | 26 | 4 | 5 | 17 | -27 | 17 |
| 18 | SC Cambuur | 27 | 4 | 4 | 19 | -30 | 16 |