Feyenoord has started its Eredivisie season with a problem-free victory over Willem II. The team from Rotterdam recorded a 0-4 victory in Tilburg, thanks to goals from Bryan Linssen, Luis Sinisterra, Guus Til and Nouafal Bannis. Feyenoord now awaits the first leg in the last preliminary round of the Conference League against the Swedish Elfsborg next Thursday at home, after which Go Ahead Eagles will form the second opponent in the Eredivisie on Sunday. Willem II has to visit Vitesse in a week.
Arne Slot was unable to rely on Alireza Jahanbakhsh in Tilburg, who was left with an injury from the midweek duel with FC Luzern. Fredrik Aursnes, who had taken over from Molde FK, made his debut in midfield and Jens Toornstra moved to the right wing. The first big chance of meeting was for Willem II, for whom the preparation was messy due to a series of corona infections. Justin Bijlow saved with a nice save that Kwasi Wriedt, who had run away from the back of Gernot Trauner, headed the opening goal against the ropes.
Almost immediately afterwards Feyenoord also made a statement, when Til appeared in the penalty area and Robbin Ruiter saw that the midfielder wanted to lift the ball over him. With seventeen minutes on the clock, the game was broken open. Linssen picked up a long pass that was headed away and then outwitted Ruiter with a shot from considerable distance into the right corner. Just under ten minutes, Feyenoord managed to double the margin. After an interception by Tyrell Malacia, Sinisterra took possession of the ball. The Colombian attacker dribbled from the center line towards the penalty area and was given the space to make the 0-2 in the left corner.
Feyenoord controlled the game in the remainder of the first half and had opportunities to increase the score before half-time via Linssen and Malacia. That eventually worked out soon after. Linssen put pressure on Willem II’s defense, allowing Til to intercept the ball in the penalty area. He passed Ruiter and then tapped in the 0-3. The last remnants of Willem II’s aspirations could go into the trash after 59 minutes of play. Captain Emil Bergström committed a hard foul on Sinisterra, for which referee Serdar Gözübüyük initially gave him a yellow card. That was converted into a red card after interference by video referee Edwin van de Graaf.
In the surplus situation, Feyenoord explicitly looked for the 0-4 and the visitors were given the necessary opportunities to further increase the score. The biggest was for Til, who could have headed in his second of the afternoon after a nice pass from Toornstra. However, his attempt went wide. Willem II also had a great chance to get on the scoreboard, when Elton Kabangu escaped the defense of Feyenoord. Bijlow, however, made sure to keep his goal clean. The final chord was provided by substitute Bannis. He extended a bet by Ridgeciano Haps and was initially called back for offside, but after VAR interference, the score was 0-4.