Driouech and Duijvestijn shoot Excelsior past the ineffective ADO Den Haag

Couhaib Driouech and Lance Duijvestijn gave Excelsior the victory on Wednesday evening when they visited ADO Den Haag: 1-2. The Rotterdam team took a 0-2 lead against the odds in the first act, but were unable to maintain the margin of two after the break. A nice volley from Henk Veerman ensured that ADO still had plenty to play for during this weekend's return.

ADO came out of the starting blocks in the opening phase of the match and created several opportunities to open the score. For example, it was Matteo Waem who should have put the 1-0 on the scoreboard, but failed to do so. The Belgian was the end of a fine corner from Daryl van Mieghem, but headed the ball over from a few meters from the enemy goal. Excelsior coach Marinus Dijkhuizen was visibly frustrated about the freedom Waem was given by his team.

Less than a minute later, things almost went wrong again for the Rotterdam team. This time it was Stijn van Gassel who had to take action. The goalkeeper first had an answer to a bet from Gylermo Siereveld and then prevented Joel Ideho from converting the rebound. In the twelfth minute ADO got the third big chance in three minutes.

Jari Vlak went alone to Van Gassel and decided to pass on Van Mieghem at the last moment, but that pass was intercepted, meaning that chance also came to nothing. In the sixteenth minute, Excelsior took the lead against odds thanks to seasoning Driouech. The visitors picked up the ball after a sloppy pass from Siereveld and then headed towards Nick Marsman's goal.

Troy Parrot passed on Driouech and the latter saw his attempt deflected and fly over Marsman into the goal with some fortune: 0-1. More than seven minutes after the opening goal, Excelsior expanded the margin to two via Duijvestijn, who converted a withdrawn cross from Driouech into an assist and scored: 0-2.

Both teams had some chances in the remaining playing time of the first act, but were unable to score. The home team once again came out of the dressing room strong after the break and attacked Van Gassel's goal in the 46th minute, but without success. ADO managed to convert the better field play twenty minutes before the end into a nice goal thanks to Veerman.

A measured cross from Ideho was cleverly rounded off with a wonderful volley by the tall striker, who ensured that ADO could look for the equalizer in the last fifteen minutes: 1-2. It almost fell ten minutes before the end, as Van Mieghem also tried with a volley, this time in the short corner.

Van Gassel managed to keep that bet out of the goal with his foot. Veerman, who was repeatedly unlucky in finishing, missed a huge chance for the equalizer in the final minutes. As a result, Excelsior managed to hold on to its lead and Dijkhuizen's team can complete the job at home on Saturday.

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