Friday, October 22, 2021 at 21:58• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 22:11

Willem II secured a place in the top three of the Eredivisie again on Friday evening. The team of trainer Fred Grim was indeed stronger than Fortuna Sittard at home, but only one point was left in the duel with the Limburgers: 1-1. Willem II therefore failed to equal the club record of this century of four home wins in a row. The Tilburgers now follow with eighteen points from ten matches behind Ajax and PSV, who will play against each other on Sunday. Fortuna Sittard remains stuck in the lower regions and has to settle for fourteenth place.

Home matches against Fortuna Sittard often guarantee success for Willem II, as ten of the last fourteen matches have been won. In addition, Grim’s team was accurate at least twice in ten of the last thirteen Eredivisie matches with Fortuna. Also this time Willem II shot out of the starting blocks. Mats Köhlert was given plenty of time and space to shoot from about twenty meters, but shot just past the right-hand post. A shot by Max Svensson also did not lead to the opening goal.

Fortuna countered this with a life-size opportunity from Mats Seuntjens in the first half. The midfielder stole the ball from Svensson in a childishly simple way and could only approach Timon Wellenreuther. Willem II’s goalkeeper, however, stayed on his feet for a long time and made an excellent save with his right arm. The game then continued into the first company, with both teams barely creating significant opportunities. That was different in the second half. After ten minutes Fortuna broke the spell, when Tijjani Noslin found the right corner on a pass from George Cox.

Willem II had a slight dominance in the field after the break and soon equalized. After an excellent lob from Svensson, Köhlert made an effective effort into the right corner: 1-1. Kwasi Wriedt seemed to put Willem II directly ahead not much later, but his attempt was barely caught by Yanick van Osch. On the other hand, Zian Flemming saw a header from a corner land in the hands of Wellenreuther. Willem II seemed to run off with the full loot in the final phase after a messy situation from a corner, but that was prevented by a number of Fortuna players who threw themselves in front of the ball.