Saturday, May 1, 2021 at 6:22 PM• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 18:22

After a mediocre performance, VVV-Venlo visited Heracles Almelo on Saturday evening against the tenth loss in a row in the Eredivisie. Jos Luhukay’s team was unable to make a fist from an offensive point of view and also had no answer to the good play of Rai Vloet and Sinan Bakis: 4-0. The latter took over most of the production with a hat-trick. In addition to the defeat, VVV also had to swallow Giogos Giakoumakis’ failure. The striker, who was without a goal for the fourth game in a row, had to leave injured after an hour of play.

The devil of the first half was clearly in the tail, when Robin Pröpper brought Bakis into position ten minutes before half time with a nice deep pass. The striker cut the ball to his lesser left and then lashed out effectively in the far corner: 1-0. Two minutes later, the same Bakis got the chance to quickly shoot the margin to two, but this time he hit the nose of Thorsten Kirschbaum at the instructions of Vloet. VVV had the opportunity to come alongside via Torino Hunte, but the attacker ran into Blaswich, who narrowly threw himself in front of the shot after Giacomo Quagliata headed back too short.

In the counter-punch it was hit on the other side. Danny Post committed a foul on Delano Burgzorg, after which Vloet found the left intersection from about twenty meters with a beautiful free kick: 2-0. In the second act, the home team initially slowed down slightly, which led to Giakoumakis being allowed to fire at the goal of Blaswich and Tobias Pachonik with a shot found the side net in the short corner. After an hour of play, Frank Wormuth’s team took over the initiative again and Bakis made the decision. The striker was in the right place after Noah Fadiga easily fought his way past two defenders and could easily slide in: 3-0.

After Arjan Swinkels headed in front, Luhukay took Giakoumakis to the side. The attack leader started with a wrapped knee and had to stop after an hour of play. Wormuth then brought in some fresh forces and saw Bakis score for his third of the evening, after Swinkels threw himself in front of a shot from Fadiga as a goalkeeper. Referee Björn Kuipers pointed to the spot, after which Bakis sent Kirschbaum in the wrong corner: 4-0. For VVV it meant the fourth game in a row without a hit. The team only managed to score twice in the last eight games and as number seventeen, it must fear direct relegation.