After a true spectacle, Feyenoord drew the longest end on Saturday evening in the final phase of the duel with NEC (5-3) via Guus Til. With the midfielder’s second goal, the 4-3 in the final minute, referee Joey Kooij was called to the screen because of an alleged push by Bryan Linssen. Kooij did not want to and decided to approve the goal, to the anger of NEC coach Rogier Meijer.
“At the 4-3 I did not have the feeling that he was not going to give it to Feyenoord,” Meijer said afterwards. ESPN. “The VAR screen is in the middle of the stadium, between the supporters. De Kuip already exploded, so I didn’t think he wouldn’t give it to Feyenoord. I also think it’s crazy that a VAR screen between the audience is standing. At NEC it is in the dug-out and it is shielded. It is logical that I am angry? I am involved in the team and then emotions are released. Then you can be angry, right?”
NEC turned a 2-0 deficit and even took the lead via Calvin Verdonk, but Til and Cyriel Dessers still won the game for Feyenoord. “I didn’t say much in the dressing room,” Meijer continues. “Everyone was devastated and disappointed. We did everything we could to get the game over the line. I think there could have been more. We started well, but then suddenly the first two goals fell. Then some things happen. through your head”, Meijer refers to the 5-0 defeat against Ajax.
According to the NEC trainer, his team had the game under control in the second half. “Until the ball hit Malacia’s post, Feyenoord did not have many chances”, Meijer also saw. “Then you hope that you can pull him over the line. So much happens in the final phase, I have yet to see it all again. At the 3-3 there was already a moment where a doubt went to Feyenoord. The fourth man said that the ball was in front of him. NEC was and he (referee Joey Kooij, ed.) gave it to Feyenoord. That’s where the 3-3 fell.”
To make matters worse, there was also a lot of discussion about Til’s 4-3, in which Linssen pushed a defender of NEC aside. Kooij was called to the screen by VAR Siemen Mulder, but he approved Til’s goal. “Do you see Linssen watching the ball?” Meijers asks reporter Pascal Kamperman angrily when he sees the images. “He has no intention of playing the ball for a single moment. Then you can say that it is light, but he has no intention of playing the ball.”