Almere City FC and Gertjan Verbeek started the new season in the Kitchen Champion Division with a defeat. The ambitious Flevolanders, where Verbeek made his official debut, lost to Jong AZ on Monday evening, where Maarten Martens also had his baptism of fire on the bench. A false start for Verbeek at the training complex of his former employer AZ. MVV did good business by winning with a minimal difference at Jong FC Utrecht.
Young AZ – Almere City FC 2-1
The first real chance of the match, after twenty minutes of play, was immediately hit. A bet by Lance Duijvestijn, on a pass from Thibaut Lesquoy, went in through the leg of Peer Koopmeiners: 0-1. The combinations in Verbeek’s team were good at times, but that did not yield more goals. In extra time, Jong AZ escaped a double deficit. Maarten Pouwels passed his opponent on physical strength and lost to Duijvestijn, who then did not get the ball behind goalkeeper Beau Reus.
In the second half, Jong AZ and Almere City were evenly matched. A bet by Iman Griffith went wide and not much later a shot by Ilias Alhaft went just over. The latter then remained threatening, but on two occasions he did not have his sights on sharp. The goal fell fifteen minutes before time on the other side. Richonell Margaret scored the 1-1 after a quick attack. Six minutes before the end, things got even worse when Yusuf Barasi headed the ball behind goalkeeper Michael Woud on a pass from Fedde de Jong. The first team of the youngest professional club in the Netherlands did not like that.
Almere City is certainly not the only intended title candidate who immediately leaves points on the first day of play. De Graafschap lost 0-3 to Roda JC Kerkrade and VVV-Venlo, NAC (2-2 against each other) and FC Volendam (2-2 against FC Eindhoven) did not go further than a draw. ADO Den Haag, on the other hand, won 2-0 against Jong Ajax.
Young FC Utrecht – MVV 0-1
Despite a dominance in the field and the fact that Jong FC Utrecht had the most opportunities, the U23 team from the Domstad faced a 0-1 deficit at half time. Orhan Dzepar needed a lot of help from goalkeeper Fabian de Keijzer, but from a distance he gave the visitors the lead.
The 541 spectators in De Galgenwaard saw how MVV did not give away a great chance to Jong FC Utrecht after the break, but was also unable to close the game itself. The visitors also awarded Darije Kalezic’s team the ball in the final phase, which kept it exciting until the last seconds. Dzepar’s goal turned out to be decisive in the end.
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