Excelsior remains in the lead; Ünüvar scores twice and escapes red

Friday, October 15, 2021 at 9:57 PM• Chris Meijer • Last update: 22:01

Excelsior is alone in the lead in the Kitchen Champion Division after Friday evening. The Rotterdammers themselves won 3-0 at home against VVV-Venlo and saw closest pursuer De Graafschap spill points against FC Eindhoven with a 0-0 draw. FC Volendam therefore takes second place from the Super farmers, as the team of trainer Wim Jonk was too strong for Telstar with 1-5. Naci Ünüvar claimed a leading role in the match between Jong Ajax and Jong FC Utrecht (3-1): the eighteen-year-old wing attacker scored twice, but also escaped a red card.

Excelsior – VVV-Venlo 3-0
It was a small miracle that Excelsior did not take the lead against VVV-Venlo very quickly. The team from Rotterdam combined the chances in the initial phase, through Siebe Horemans and Marouan Azarkan, among others. The biggest chance, however, was for Thijs Dallinga, who hit the post. On the stroke of half-time, Excelsior finally hit the mark, when Reuven Niemeijer headed home on a pass from Horemans. After Dalling had failed to double the score with his head shortly after the break, Excelsior walked away from VVV early in the second half. Niemeijer scored his second goal of the evening with 53 minutes on the clock and saw Dallinga decide the game three minutes later by lifting the score to 3-0. The fact that it did not become somewhat exciting in the final phase was thanks to Stijn van Gassel. The Excelsior goalkeeper prevented goals from Erik Sorga and Joeri Schroijen.

De Graafschap – FC Eindhoven 0-0
In the first half, both teams at De Vijverberg got no further than a few pinpricks back and forth: Hicham Acheffay and Elmo Lieftink showed themselves on behalf of De Graafschap, while Jasper Dahlhaus, Barnabás Rácz and Joey Sleegers had opportunities for FC Eindhoven. After the break, De Graafschap went more emphatically in search of the lead. Goalkeeper Nigel Bertrams, however, prevented goals from Elmo Lieftink, Julian Lelieveld and Devin Haen, while the post stood in the way of a hit by Rick Dekker. Because FC Eindhoven kept its ranks closed in the final phase, there were no more goals in Doetinchem.

Telstar – FC Volendam 1-5
Telstar and FC Volendam acted to draw attention to the LGBTI community in special rainbow uniforms. The home team took the lead after twelve minutes, when Volendam goalkeeper Filip Stankovic missed and Özgür Aktas headed home. However, Volendam quickly took the game to itself, because the equalizer by Ibrahim El Kadiri was the starting signal for a supreme period for Volendam. Robert Mühren gave Volendam the lead after a nice pass from Van Mieghem. Thanks to a goal from Van Mieghem and the second goal from Mühren, Volendam took a comfortable 1-4 lead before half-time.

After the break, Volendam slowed down a bit, giving Telstar opportunities through Glynor Plet to come back somewhat in the game. However, that hope was finally thrown into the bin after 67 minutes, after Mühren’s replacement Jim Beers found the far corner from a corner kick with the head. As it turned out, he determined the final score at 1-5, even though Telstar still had the necessary opportunities to reduce the margin. However, Tom Overtoom, Gyliano van Velzen and Plet, among others, failed to score.

NAC Breda – Young AZ 1-0
NAC Breda started in its own Rat Verlegh Stadium against the surprising number four of the Kitchen Champion Division, which quickly resulted in opportunities for Odysseus Velanas, Ruben Ligeon and Ralf Seuntjens. With 24 minutes on the clock it was hit: a measured cross from Thom Haye reached Danny Bakker, who headed the goal. Because NAC failed to increase the score via Velanas, among others, Jong AZ remained in the game. Iman Griffith could have taken care of the equalizer and passed NAC goalkeeper Nick Olij as well, but saw Dion Malone and Bakker thwart the opportunity. In the end, NAC managed to get the minimal win, despite Thijs Oosting being very close to the equalizer.

TOP Oss – FC Emmen 1-2
TOP Oss was already six games without a win prior to the game with FC Emmen and was lucky that after the first half there was not already a deficit on the scoreboard. Goalkeeper Norbert Alblas or the crossbar proved to be an obstacle to opportunities for Jeredy Hilterman, Rui Mendes and Peter van Ooijen. Shortly after the break, however, the opening goal fell on the other side, when Justin Mathieu scored on a pass from Kay Tejan. The opening goal turned out to be an inspiration for TOP Oss, because the home team got the initiative. Yet twenty minutes before the end it was again equal, thanks to a goal from Jasin-Amin Assehnoun. In the final phase, the best opportunities via Mendes and Assehnoun were still for FC Emmen, but there seemed to be no winner. Jeroen Veldmate gave the team of trainer Dick Lukkien another victory in the third minute of injury time.

Young Ajax – Young FC Utrecht 3-1
Young FC Utrecht started strong and took the lead early. Remco Balk turned his back to the goal and was able to shoot the ball behind Jay Gorter: 0-1. 25 minutes into the match, Ünüvar equalized the score by taking in a pass from Youri Regeer’s right wing and going in for 1-1. Ünüvar played excellent anyway, but also showed himself from a lesser side, by getting ahead of Rick Meissen with his studs. Referee Martijn Vos let the attacking midfielder of Young Ajax escape with yellow.

That gave Ünüvar the opportunity to decide the game fifteen minutes before time. After a dribble, the youth international first shot the ball on an opponent’s heel, but then shot the rebound convincingly behind Fabian de Keijzer: 2-1. Young FC Utrecht came close to equalizing and saw the ball hit the post via the leg of Ajax defender Donny Warmerdam. Young Ajax decided the game two minutes before the end via Terrence Douglas, who, after a smooth attack from close range, took it effectively: 3-1.

Roda JC Kerkrade – Young PSV 2-2
Young PSV was literally helped in the ninth minute by Rody de Boer. Roda JC’s goalkeeper caught a high cross by Johan Bakayoko from the right near the far post, but then ran into his own goal: 0-1. Roda came back in the 25th minute via Niek Vossebelt, who was able to walk in a low cross from Dylan Vente: 1-1. On the stroke of half-time, the Limburgers saw a ball being taken off the line twice after shots from close range by Patrick Pflücke and Amir Absalem. A golden substitution put Roda in the lead after the break, because Xian Emmers was able to tap in an assist from Vente again two minutes after his entrance: 2-1. Jong PSV pulled a point out of the fire in the fourth minute of injury time. Dante Sealy curled the ball beautifully into the corner from the right side of the penalty area: 2-2.

The matches Helmond Sport – ADO Den Haag, MVV Maastricht – FC Dordrecht and FC Den Bosch – Almere City started later. The reports of these matches will be added as soon as possible.

No. Team m W G V +/- Pnt
1 Excelsior 11 7 1 3 10 22
2 FC Volendam 10 6 3 1 13 21
3 The County 11 6 2 3 5 20
4 FC Emmen 11 6 1 4 7 19
5 Young AZ 10 6 0 4 2 18
6 FC Eindhoven 11 5 2 4 0 17
7 Ado den Haag 10 7 1 2 10 16
8 VVV Venlo 11 5 1 5 -1 16
9 Roda JC Kerkrade 10 4 3 3 4 15
10 Young FC Utrecht 10 4 3 3 4 15
11 Young Ajax 10 5 0 5 2 15
12 NAC Breda 10 3 3 4 -1 12
13 Helmond Sports 10 4 0 6 -4 12
14 FC Den Bosch 11 4 0 7 -7 12
15 Telstar 10 3 3 4 -8 12
16 MVV Maastricht 10 4 0 6 -15 12
17 Young PSV 10 3 2 5 -3 11
18 TOP Oss 11 3 1 7 -7 10
19 Almere City FC 11 2 3 6 -3 9
20 FC Dordrecht 10 1 3 6 -8 6

Voetbalzone is the official media partner of the Kitchen Champion Division

Click here for exclusive interviews, talent scouts, current positions and the program on our Kitchen Champion Division page.