PSV had an ideal start in the Eredivisie on Saturday evening. Ruud van Nistelrooij’s team had no problem with FC Emmen, which already faced a 3-0 deficit at halftime. For example, PSV was able to slow down considerably after the break, in the run-up to the crucial return against AS Monaco in the preliminary round of the Champions League. Via Cody Gakpo, who scored a total of twice, and a goal from Ole Romeny, it eventually became 4-1.
Ibrahim Sangaré came out of the battle in Monaco stunned and remained on the bench during the season’s overture in the Eredivisie. Guus Til was also there the entire game, creating space in midfield for Xavi Simons and Érick Gutiérrez. On the right wing, Ki-Jana Hoever and Johan Bakayoko had a chance in the starting line-up. FC Emmen strengthened itself this summer with Maikel Kieftenbeld and former Ajax player Richairo Zivkovic, who both started their debut.
Already the most clumsy own goal of the season??#psvemm pic.twitter.com/JqwIsJvLmA
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) August 6, 2022
PSV could not have imagined a better match, because FC Emmen was not able to cope with the Eindhoven attacking urge for a moment. In the eighteenth minute, PSV opened the lead from a counter, after Emmen had taken a corner. Xavi Simons bridged a great distance with the ball at his foot and delivered a gossamer pass to Bakayoko, who finished eye to eye with Eric Oelschlagel: 1-0.
Eight minutes later Emmen made it 2-0 in an extremely clumsy way. A free kick by Gakpo ended up in a pinball machine of Drenthe’s legs and was painfully shot into his own goal by Kieftenbeld on the back line via his own standing leg. Seven minutes before the break, Armando Obispo led the 3-0 with a nice interception on the sidelines. The defender slipped the ball away from Rui Mendes and sent Gakpo off into the depths. The left striker surprised Jeroen Veldmate by going around the outside and finding the short corner with the left.
The extremely favorable standings offered PSV the space to exchange Philipp Max and Joey Veerman in the break. Gakpo made the fourth Eindhoven goal ten minutes after the break, after this time he was put one-on-one with Luuk de Jong. It was a breeze for Gakpo to put the ball in the far corner: 4-0. Just like Obispo, the attacker was substituted after an hour of play. Two minutes later Emmen took advantage of Gutiérrez’s clumsy loss of the ball and managed to score an honorary goal via Ole Romeny: 4-1. The striker was able to take in great freedom at ten meters and immaculately printed in the bottom corner.
PSV let the reins loose and limited themselves to playing the ball around. Emmen came out dangerous again via Romeny, who forced Walter Benítez to his first real save with a shot. De Jong was still looking for his coveted goal on the other side, but did not get the ball into the goal with both a header and a header. The striker was taken off in injury time for debutant Sávio, who is rented from Troyes.