Excelsior cheers after Dallinga’s double blow and young Ajax late misstep

Friday, December 10, 2021 at 10:05 PM• Last update: 22:11

Young Ajax has missed the period title in the Kitchen Champion Division. The team of coach John Heitinga needed a victory on a visit to TOP Oss, but two minutes before the end they conceded the equalizer: 1-1. Excelsior did win, with 2-1 against MVV Maastricht, and can look forward to the Bronze Championship shield. In addition, Excelsior is assured of a place in the play-offs for promotion. It must be strange if the club is dependent on the period title, because Excelsior is second in the competition. FC Volendam won 3-2 against Jong PSV and has one point more.

Excelsior – MVV Maastricht 2-1
Excelsior had the initiative in the opening phase and it was of course Thijs Dallinga who translated the dominance into a goal. The league top scorer scored his 23rd goal of the season after twenty minutes from a rebound after a bet by Julian Baas. Dallinga struck again in the second half. After a quick counter he nodded right on the pass from Siebe Horemans. MVV came back to 2-1 through an own goal by Mats Wieffer and that was it. Due to the loss of points by Jong Ajax, Excelsior grabs the period title. Nevertheless, the club hopes to ‘just’ promote immediately by finishing in the top two.

TOP Oss – Ajax Reserves 1-1
Ajax dominated in the opening phase and came very close to the opening goal in the tenth minute. With a half overhead kick from the penalty area, Naci Ünüvar hit the crossbar. On the other side, however, Ajax keeper Jay Gorter prevented Jearl Margaritha from giving the home team the lead. After an interruption due to the lighting of fireworks around De Toekomst, the sharpness at Ajax seemed to diminish. In the opening phase of the second half, however, the visitors took the lead: after a corner, Nordin Musampa got the ball at his feet as a result of a chaotic situation and he took advantage of that. The goal did not ensure that Ajax played much better football. In the final phase, the home team got the lid on their nose, because Kay Tejan headed in a cross. Deep in the stoppage time, Ajax missed a huge chance of the 1-2 through a save by former Young Ajax goalkeeper Norbert Alblas.

FC Volendam – Young PSV 3-2
Volendam did not have to wait long for the opening goal. After a turning corner, goalkeeper Maxime Delanghe went under the ball, after which Boy Deul headed in the 1-0 from close range. Volendam rumbled on and increased the margin via Robert Mühren, who converted a penalty after a handball by Jenson Seelt after a shot by Mühren. Seven minutes after the break, substitute Ibrahim El Kadiri made it 3-0 with a nice, contrarian shot from the edge of the penalty area. Young PSV did something back from a penalty kick: Johan Bakayoko was knocked out by Dean James and scored himself. Mohamed Nassoh made it 3-2 after a nice shot from the turn by substitute Mohamed Nassoh. Volendam eventually held out.

FC Emmen – FC Dordrecht 2-1
The Drents put the gas on it from the first whistle. Lorenzo Burnet in particular was elusive for his direct opponent Mathis Suray: the left back created two great opportunities for Jari Vlak in fifteen minutes, plus a shooting opportunity for himself. Araujo, Jasin-Amin Assehnoun and again Vlak were also close to the opening goal in the remainder of the first half; Dordrecht didn’t offer much in return, except for Pascu’s departure. The 0-1 just after the break came completely out of the blue: from a corner from Alessio Micheli, Stijn Meijer headed convincingly. Araujo gave his team what it was entitled to not much later. The Peruvian promoted a corner kick from Assehnoun with his head to a goal. At the very last moment – in the fourth minute of extra time – Bart Scholte gave his team the deserved victory with the third header of the game.

De Graafschap – Helmond Sport 0-1
It was one-way traffic during the first 45 minutes in Doetinchem. Within a minute, Helmond Sport goalkeeper Mike Havekotte had to intervene three times; in the remainder of the first half hour, De Graafschap created three more big chances. Giovanni Korte thought the Superfarmers five minutes before the end of the game, but his header exploded on the crossbar. “There will have to be tapped from a different keg,” Helmond Sport already wrote on its own Twitter account. However, that was not the case: even after the break, the people from Brabant continued to hold back and hold back. It was therefore a miracle that it was still 0-1. Three minutes before the end, Dylan Seys luckily got the ball at his feet and plunged the home team into mourning.

ADO The Hague – Young AZ 3-2
The home team had already won five games in a row and Thomas Verheydt had managed to find the net in all those duels. The striker did not think it was enough: he increased the series to six in the 23rd minute by tapping in from a cross from Hervé Matthys. ADO could not enjoy that lead for long. Three minutes later, Zico Buurmeester cunningly extended a pass from Iman Griffith. The latter brutally helped the Alkmaarders into the lead before the break. The left winger was able to continue unhindered and shot hard and low behind Luuk Koopmans. After the break, however, ADO quickly put things in order. Joey Jacobs caused a penalty by making hands; Verheydt shot in weakly, but still scored. With a bit of luck, Ruud Brood’s team turned things around completely. Sem Steijn tried it from about twenty meters and through an Alkmaar leg the ball ended up behind a hopeless Sem Westerveld. The residents of The Hague tried to increase the margin, but were no longer able to do so.

NAC Breda – Almere City FC 1-1
Alex Pastoor was announced last week as the successor to the fired Gertjan Verbeek, but the new trainer will only take place on the bench after the winter break. Until then, Tim Bakens is at the helm. The first half in the Rat Verlegh Stadium was not characterized by eye-catching football and the scoreboard indicated a logical 0-0 score halfway through. The game was broken open fifteen minutes after the break. Lance Duijvestijn got the ball on the edge of Thijs van Leeuwen’s sixteen-meter area. The number ten was given time to lash out and placed the ball in the corner in a nice way. A few minutes later, NAC failed to score the equalizer twice. First Boris van Schuppen hit the crossbar, and Thom Haye hit the post from the rebound. The latter evened the score in the 74th minute. After a pass from Jarchino Antonia, Haye turned away with a nice capping movement and shot in the 1-1. It was also the final score.

Roda JC Kerkrade – FC Den Bosch 3-2
The spectacle in Kerkrade was already set in motion in the fifth minute of play when Jizz Hornkamp ran in a cross from the right: 0-1. In the twelfth minute Bryan Limbombe made it to the back line, after which he gave Patrick Pflücke an unmissable head chance with a measured cross: 1-1. A few minutes later Roda JC had to give chase again. Again Hornkamp was accurate on behalf of FC Den Bosch. However, the Limburgers showed resilience and equalized halfway through the first company. Again there was an important role for Pflücke; this time as a principal. Dylan Vente received a wide pass from the left winger and simply walked in the 2-2. After an hour of play, Roda took the lead for the first time. Pflücke shot the post from a free kick, after which Stefano Marzo made the 3-2 from the rebound. Although the home team in particular created a few more chances, the scoreboard stopped moving.

VVV-Venlo – Young FC Utrecht 1-2
Especially before the break, VVV-Venlo was the dominant party. The Limburgers created excellent opportunities early in the match, including through Yahcuroo Roemer and Joeri Schroijen, but both names lacked fortune in the final round. The scoring opened in the 24th minute. Referee Michael Eijgelsheim saw that Mitchell van Rooijen was pulled down in the penalty area, after which he awarded a penalty to the home team. Sven Braken shot in flawlessly in the bottom left corner. Afterwards, Jong FC Utrecht became significantly more dangerous. Although Utrecht’s attacking spirit did not lead to a goal before half-time, the visitors were level in the second half. More than fifteen minutes before the final signal, Nick Venema scored the deserved equalizer: 1-1. The poisoned cup was not yet empty for VVV: in the 87th minute Venema struck again and gave the Utrecht U23 team the 1-2 victory.

FC Eindhoven – Telstar 1-1
FC Eindhoven took the lead halfway through the first half via Joey Sleegers. The winger received a beautiful deep pass from Maarten Peijnenburg. After a nice cut, Sleegers passed goalkeeper Abdel El Ouazzane in a cool way. The teams were evenly matched, although the field relationships were not reflected on the scoreboard until the 83rd minute. In the end, it was substitute Rashaan Fernandes who scored the equalizer on a pass from Anthony Berenstein: 1-1. In the final minutes, the home team came close to the winning goal via Sleegers, who, however, headed just wide.

No. Team m W G V +/- Pnt
1 FC Volendam 19 12 6 1 22 42
2 Excelsior 19 13 2 4 22 41
3 FC Emmen 19 11 3 5 14 36
4 Young Ajax 19 11 3 5 13 36
5 Ado den Haag 19 13 2 4 21 35
6 The County 19 10 3 6 8 33
7 Roda JC Kerkrade 19 8 6 5 10 30
8 FC Eindhoven 19 9 3 7 6 30
9 NAC Breda 19 7 6 6 8 27
10 FC Den Bosch 19 8 1 10 -12 25
11 VVV Venlo 19 7 2 10 -4 23
12 MVV Maastricht 19 7 2 10 -17 23
13 Young PSV 19 6 4 9 -3 22
14 Young FC Utrecht 19 6 4 9 -7 22
15 Young AZ 19 6 3 10 -6 21
16 Helmond Sports 19 5 4 10 -12 19
17 Telstar 19 4 7 8 -17 19
18 Almere City FC 19 4 5 10 -9 17
19 TOP Oss 19 3 6 10 -11 15
20 FC Dordrecht 19 2 4 13 -26 10

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