FC Emmen and VVV-Venlo played a spectacular match at De Oude Meerdijk on Sunday. The home team equalized with a 2-0 lead on the way to a victory in the first round of the Eredivisie, but resilience still gave VVV a very nice victory: 3-5. Striker Giorgos Giakoumakis was the star on the side of the Limburg club with a hat trick after the break. Nikolai Laursen apparently prevented a defeat for the Emmen in the last phase with a nice heel, but it went completely wrong in the last minutes.

FC Emmen started very promisingly. In the fourth minute there was a hard shot from
Marko Kolar turns through the VVV goalkeeper Thorsten Kirschbaum. In the setback, however, Robbert De Vos tapped in the 1-0. As the first half progressed, VVV became stronger, without FC Emmen’s lead being removed from the scoreboard. Giorgos tried with a header, but his attempt failed. The formation of coach Dick Lukkien reached the halftime signal with a 1-0 score.

FC Emmen opened the scoring after four minutes of play and four minutes after the break it was hit again for the home club. Kolar pulled in from the left and fired the ball flawlessly into the short corner from just outside the penalty area. However, the euphoria at FC Emmen quickly disappeared. A low cross was worked in by Giakoumakis at the farthest position. A handball by Michael Chacon, detected by the VAR, caused the home team further problems. The ball hit half of the second half and Giakoumakis failed from eleven yards out.

Things got worse for the visitors when Giakoumakis broke through on the right, leaving the entire defense trailing in his wake. The goal of the top scorer from Greece was sufficient for the victory, but five minutes later Laursen had other plans. From a corner by Miguel Araujo, the Dane finally tapped the ball over the goal line with a heel. In the ninetieth minute, there was still deep disappointment at FC Emmen. A cross from the right by Tobias Pachonik flies into the goal via Caner Cavlan’s leg over the helpless Telgenkamp. Long in injury time, Jafar Arias, with a past at FC Emmen, set the final score at close at 3-5.