FC Emmen has booked an important victory in the fight against relegation on Saturday. Competitor Excelsior Rotterdam was sent back to Rotterdam in a mutual duel with a 2-0 defeat. Ole Romeny single-handedly decided the Eredivisie game with two hits on behalf of the home team. The victory puts Emmen on 21 points and over Excelsior. The team of Marinus Dijkhuizen is now sixteenth.
Dick Lukkien had few surprises in store for the visitors. Only Jeroen Veldmate was missing from the selection, so Miguel Araujo wore the captain’s armband. The Peruvian formed the heart of the defense with Dennis Vos. At the Kralingers Dijkhuizen could not have his tastemaker Marouan Azarkan. The creative had to miss the game due to a groin injury and was replaced on the right by Couhaib Driouech.
Excelsior handed out the first pinprick on the Oude Meerdijk via Driouech, who was faster than Araujo and then forced Mickey van der Hart to a save with his feet. Emmen also asserted himself in the first company. Jeremy Antonisse tried it with a mop shot from a distance and Mike te Wierik came through well over the right side. The defender passed tight and low, but saw that no one could then tap in.
Van der Hart showed his class five minutes before the break, after Nikolas Agrafiotis seemed to work the ball against the ropes from close range with a subtle foot movement. However, the closing post had an excellent rescue. On the other side, Excelsior then crawled through the eye of the needle. A bet by Te Wierik was just taken off the line by Siebe Horemans, who played his one hundred and fiftyth match for Excelsior.
Even after the break, both teams managed to create the necessary chances. Van der Hart saved with pain and effort on a shot by Agrafiotis, after which the home team finally managed to break the spell. Sven Nieuwpoort left Romeny uncovered with a free kick from Mark Diemers. Emmen’s club top scorer showed his sharpness and convincingly headed in: 1-0. Diemers thought he would end the game early twenty minutes before the end, but saw his goal attempt go just wide of the intersection. In the attack, the 2-0 was still a fact, after Romeny promoted a rebound from Richairo Zivkovic to goal.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | v | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feyenoord | 24 | 16 | 7 | 1 | 32 | 55 |
| 2 | Ajax | 24 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 43 | 52 |
| 3 | AZ | 24 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 22 | 50 |
| 4 | PSV | 24 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 33 | 49 |
| 5 | FC Twente | 24 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 18 | 41 |
| 6 | Sparta Rotterdam | 24 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 40 |
| 7 | FC Utrecht | 24 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 37 |
| 8 | RKC Waalwijk | 24 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 32 |
| 9 | SC Heerenveen | 24 | 8 | 7 | 9 | -5 | 31 |
| 10 | NEC | 24 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 30 |
| 11 | Fortuna Sittard | 24 | 8 | 5 | 11 | -10 | 29 |
| 12 | Go Ahead Eagles | 24 | 6 | 8 | 10 | -9 | 26 |
| 13 | Vitesse | 24 | 5 | 8 | 11 | -14 | 23 |
| 14 | FC Volendam | 24 | 6 | 5 | 13 | -25 | 23 |
| 15 | FC Emmen | 25 | 4 | 9 | 12 | -20 | 21 |
| 16 | Excelsior | 25 | 6 | 2 | 17 | -39 | 20 |
| 17 | Fc Groningen | 24 | 4 | 5 | 15 | -24 | 17 |
| 18 | SC Cambuur | 24 | 4 | 4 | 16 | -23 | 16 |