FC Emmen has achieved a victory in the Eredivisie for the second week in a row. On a visit to FC Utrecht, the team of trainer Dick Lukkien had enough on Saturday with a goal from Sergio Peña: 0-1. For Utrecht, it marked its first loss in weeks, after the team remained unbeaten in the last six games. Due to the victory, Emmen can suddenly hope for his life preservation, now that the number one from Drenthe in ADO Den Haag has approached two points. ADO has played a game less. Utrecht drops from seventh to eighth place.
Emmen, which won a victory in the Eredivisie for the first time in a year against PEC Zwolle (3-2) last week, came out surprisingly fresh in the Domstad. Lukkien’s team never seemed impressed by the home team and took the initiative from the start. This led to the opening goal after fifteen minutes of play. Luka Adzic dribbled into the box from the left side of the field, got rid of Joris van Overeem and saw Peña shoot the rebound behind Eric Oelschlägel, after Willem Janssen initially blocked a shot from Adzic: 0-1. It was the first time that Emmen took the lead in a game in the Eredivisie since November 2019.
Not long after the opening goal, Peña reached Miguel Araujo, who forced Oelschlägel to save with his head. Utrecht made very little difference in the first half and came out dangerous only once, when Othman Boussaid decided to go for his own success. The little winger pulled in from the right side and then lashed out with a well placed shot, which goalkeeper Michael Verrips faced off with a fine save. On the other hand, Oelschlägel had to act again, after Adzic sent a header to the ground on a pass from Peña. The German was attentive and managed to turn the ball over the back line into a corner with a fine save. In the second half, the game hardly changed and Utrecht could hardly make a fist.
The team of trainer René Hake did score the first opportunity via Sander van de Streek. The midfielder produced a header from a corner kick by Adam Maher, but saw his bet go just over Verrips’ goal. Not much later Utrecht was dangerous again. Kerk encountered Verrips from close by and saw that the rebound was not spent on Moussa Sylla. Emmen seemed to extend the score twenty minutes before time, when Araujo defeated Oelschlägel from close range. However, Tommy St. Jago was attentive and got the ball off the goal line. In the final phase the game went up and down with small chances for both teams, but there would be no more goals.
Due to the defeat, FC Utrecht saw a run of six unbeaten matches (five victories, a draw) ended and suffered its first defeat since January 12. Then Vitesse in Arnhem was 1-0 too strong for Utrecht. This defeat will be harder for the Domstedelingen.