FC Utrecht started its season in the Eredivisie vigorously on Sunday afternoon. René Hake’s team was helped early in the game against Sparta Rotterdam by a fantastic free kick from Adam Maher. In the second half FC Utrecht expanded its lead thanks to Mark van der Maarel, debutant Anastasios Douvikas and a penalty from Simon Gustafson: 4-0. Gyrano Kerk could also have scored several goals, but was not focused.
Within a hundred seconds FC Utrecht took the lead in the match. Maher placed a beautiful free kick from the edge of the penalty area in the corner: 1-0. The Domstedelingen also had a clear dominance in the field afterwards. Henk Fraser was dissatisfied with the performance of his Sparta and remarkably enough gave a note with tactical instructions to his captain Adil Auassar.
Still, the best chances that followed were for Utrecht, which was led by the excellent playing Bart Ramselaar. The number ten set Gyrano Kerk free twice for Maduka Okoye, but the Utrecht attacker failed to score. At first Kerk aimed just wide, at the next chance he hit the feet of the Sparta goalkeeper. After a new cross from Ramselaar, Adrián Dalmau did manage to score, but that goal was disallowed due to narrow offside. Sparta itself created an opportunity for Mario Engels, who could not surprise Maarten Paes in the far corner.
At halftime, the dissatisfied Fraser made a double substitution, allowing Sparta to play football better. This made the match a lot more equal, but it was FC Utrecht that scored the next goal. A cross from Quinten Timber was headed in in the 66th minute by Mark van der Maarel: 2-0. Just under ten minutes, substitute Douvikas closed the game by tapping in a low cross from Sylian Mokono: 3-0. In the final minute Kerk missed a great opportunity by overshooting. A handball by Bart Vriends after a shot by Mokono gave Utrecht a penalty in injury time, which was used by Gustafson in the middle: 4-0.
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