Go Ahead Eagles dragged a victory out of the fire against Heracles Almelo on Saturday evening with pain and difficulty. The team of trainer Kees van Wonderen was lucky that two unprecedented blunders by Warner Hahn were not fatal: 4-2. The team from Deventer ended the game with nine men after red cards for Isac Lidberg and Giannis-Foivos Botos, but held out in the nine minutes of injury time. With the win, Go Ahead rises to twelfth place in the ranking, while Heracles remains eleventh.
Frank Wormuth was forced to make a change in midfield, as the German coach did not have Luca de la Torre, who only returned late from international obligations with the United States. He was replaced by Orestis Kiomourtzoglo. It was the home team that started the game best in front of their own audience. After a cross from Boyd Lucassen, Ragnar Oratmangoen fired on the Almelo goal for the first time, but his shot was barely blocked. On behalf of Heracles, Delano Burgzorg shot just wide of Hahn’s goal of about twenty meters.
Another red card for Go Ahead Eagles. After Botos Lidberg also gets red ??#gaeher pic.twitter.com/cdNzNao3tb
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) October 16, 2021
After half an hour of play, Go Ahead took the lead. A corner from Philippe Rommens ended on Luuk Brouwers’ head: 1-0. Heracles then fought back into the game, but barely created any great opportunities. A shot from Burgzorg was caught by Hahn. On the stroke of half-time, the goalie of the team from Deventer was beaten when he unluckily shot the ball into the feet of Rai Vloet. It was then a breeze for the Heracles midfielder to work the ball into the empty goal: 1-1. After an hour of play, Go Ahead took the lead for the second time.
After a cross by Iñigo Córdoba, the ball came through the post on the knee of Mats Knoester, who unfortunately worked the ball into his own goal. When Go Ahead lifted the margin to two via Brouwers not much later, the game appeared to be over. Were it not that Hahn made a flashy mistake for the second time. The goalkeeper let the ball slip through his hands from a corner and saw Marco Rente take advantage: 3-2. Heracles pressed for the equalizer in the final phase and was strengthened by a red card from Giannis-Foivos Botos.
The Greek fouled Noah Fadiga. Referee Richard Martens initially dismissed it with a yellow card, but came back on his decision on the advice of the VAR. A second red card for Lidberg, who knocked Kiomourtzoglou to the ground, did not lead to Heracles breaking the wall of Go Ahead for the third time. The final chord came in the name of Mats Deijl, who dealt the death blow in the switch: 4-2.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajax | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 22 |
| 2 | PSV | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 18 |
| 3 | FC Utrecht | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 17 |
| 4 | Feyenoord | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 16 |
| 5 | William II | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| 6 | FC Twente | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 |
| 7 | sc Heerenveen | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 13 |
| 8 | Vitesse | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | -7 | 13 |
| 9 | SC Cambuur | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | -5 | 12 |
| 10 | NEC | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | -5 | 11 |
| 11 | Heracles Almelo | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 10 |
| 12 | Go Ahead Eagles | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | -7 | 10 |
| 13 | AZ | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
| 14 | RKC Waalwijk | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | -3 | 7 |
| 15 | Fc Groningen | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -7 | 6 |
| 16 | Sparta Rotterdam | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -9 | 6 |
| 17 | Fortuna Sittard | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -9 | 5 |
| 18 | PEC Zwolle | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | -12 | 1 |