FC Eindhoven eliminated De Graafschap on Friday evening in the Kitchen Champion Division Play-offs. The team of trainer Rob Penders defeated De Graafschap 3-1 after an entertaining opening phase. After the 1-1 in the first leg in Doetinchem, it was enough to reach the semi-finals. In this, FC Eindhoven will compete against ADO Den Haag or NAC Breda.
Jan Vreeman made two changes to his basic team at De Graafschap compared to the first game. Philp Brittijn and Roland Baas made way for Johnatan Opoku and Jasper van Heertum, while Justin Ogenia replaced the injured Jasper Dahlhaus as left wingback on the FC Eindhoven side. Ogenia was sidelined for almost a year and a half due to a cruciate ligament injury. The defender made his long-awaited return to the Eindhoven team at the beginning of this calendar year and he managed to break the ban in the Jan Louwers Stadium early on. The back advanced over the left flank and then curled nicely with his right leg from a distance: 1-0.
However, the home team could not enjoy the lead for long, because they came in an entertaining opening phase the Superfarmers soon alongside. After a smooth attack, Opoku returned the ball to Mees Kaandorp in the sixteen-meter area, who found the top corner with a placed shot: 1-1. For both teams, the first serious chance was immediately hit and FC Eindhoven once again showed themselves extremely efficient in the first 25 minutes. First Charles-Andreas Brym was able to slide in completely free after a cross by Collin Seedorf, after which Joey Sleegers was able to extend the margin a few minutes more. The winger surprised the full defender of De Graafschap with an acceleration and then simply pushed the ball past Hidde Jurjus: 3-1.
† What’s happening here?! After 24 minutes leads @fceindhoven all with 3-1!#fcegra #deunion pic.twitter.com/1MsIoKEYyM
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) May 13, 2022
De Graafschap didn’t seem to need long to straighten up. A few minutes after Sleegers’ 3-1, Giovanni Korte had the perfect opportunity to put the connecting goal on the scoreboard. However, the attacker encountered Nigel Bertrams, who saw how Matthias Verreth then managed to save the ball from the line. Vreeman hoped to give his team a new impulse in the second company with Danzell Gravenberch and Elmo Lieftink, but FC Eindhoven looked a lot more stable defensively after the break. Camiel Neghli failed to bring De Graafschap back into the game in the final phase, while Sleegers on the other side forgot to close the game one-on-one with Jurjus.