FC Utrecht climbed to sixth place in the Eredivisie with a victory over sc Heerenveen on Saturday. The Frisians took the lead in the Abe Lenstra Stadium via Sydney van Hooijdonk, but Anastasios Douvikas and Modibo Sagnan still gave the team from the Domstad the three points: 1-2. Due to the defeat, Heerenveen drops to eighth place in the ranking, one point below Utrecht.
At Heerenveen, there were two other players in the base compared to the previous Eredivisie game, which was won 1-3 against FC Volendam. Syb van Ottele and Tibor Halilovic started on the bench with the Frisians, while Anas Tahiri and Rami Al Hajj were allowed to show it from the first minute. Utrecht coach Henk Fräser chose the same eleven names as against Sparta Rotterdam (3-1 win) last week. Bas Dost, Django Warmerdam, Arthur Zagre and Mimoun Mahi, who had doubts prior to the game in Friesland, were not included in the selection.
What a swipe from Anastasios Douvikas! ????
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The home team was close to 1-0 several times in the opening phase, but Utrecht could thank goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas that it remained 0-0 for the time being. For example, the goalkeeper prevented both Al Hajj and Amin Sarr from scoring several times. After more than half an hour there was a deserved lead for Heerenveen: Mats Köhlert passed the ball, Van Hooijdonk headed the ball. However, the home team could not enjoy that lead for a long time, as both teams went into the break with a 1-1 score due to a beautiful shot by Douvikas.
After Barkas again defused an attempt by Sarr at the start of the second half with a nice float dive, Sagnan gave Utrecht the lead halfway through the second half against the odds. The Frenchman outplayed a number of opponents on the edge of the Frisian penalty area and then lashed out: 1-2. Just before time, Barkas saved on an attempt by Antoine Colassin, but the substitute also turned out to be offside. Even after that, Heerenveen was unable to equalize, so that Utrecht was allowed to credit the second Eredivisie victory in a row.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajax | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 28 |
| 2 | PSV | 11 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 24 |
| 3 | Feyenoord | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 24 |
| 4 | AZ | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 23 |
| 5 | FC Twente | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 22 |
| 6 | FC Utrecht | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | -3 | 18 |
| 7 | Sparta Rotterdam | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 17 |
| 8 | sc Heerenveen | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 17 |
| 9 | RKC Waalwijk | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 14 |
| 10 | Excelsior | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | -14 | 13 |
| 11 | Fortuna Sittard | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | -5 | 12 |
| 12 | NEC | 11 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 11 |
| 13 | Vitesse | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | -9 | 11 |
| 14 | Fc Groningen | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | -10 | 11 |
| 15 | Go Ahead Eagles | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | -5 | 10 |
| 16 | SC Cambuur | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -10 | 8 |
| 17 | FC Emmen | 11 | 1 | 3 | 7 | -15 | 6 |
| 18 | FC Volendam | 11 | 1 | 3 | 7 | -19 | 6 |