Kenneth Perez is very pleased with the game Ibrahim Sangaré shows in the first half of the duel with AS Monaco. Halfway through, Ruud van Nistelrooij’s team enjoys a 1-0 lead thanks to a direct hit by Joey Veerman, but the Eindhoven team is sloppy in possession. In the analyst’s view, only Sangaré is currently a ‘reliable’ factor.
PSV survived the first twenty minutes and then played beautifully through the defense of Monaco. Ismael Saibari sent Phillipp Mwene away over the right flank, after which the right back kept the overview from the back line and Joey Veerman played. The midfielder remained calm and gave PSV an early lead with a well-placed shot, just like in Monte Carlo: 1-0.
?? @PSV takes the lead: Joey Veerman again the celebrated man against AS Monaco!#PSVMON pic.twitter.com/cI4sNJ2h3a
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) August 9, 2022
“I think it’s rarely seen that you lose so much ball and still lead 1-0,” opens Perez. “PSV should have been up 2-0 with that very good corner on Veerman. But Veerman and Gakpo lose the ball, the only station that was reliable was Sangaré. The opposite world. Mwene keeps the overview. Nine out of ten would still be looking for Luuk, but he has already looked very well: Veerman is free again at sixteen meters. We’ve said it before: they are ball watchers. It’s not a hard shot, but it’s a placed shot.”
“PSV has a lot of trouble with Kevin Volland, Wissam Ben Yedder and Takumi Minamino, who play very close to each other,” concludes Marciano Vink after seeing the first 45 minutes of play. “PSV is often one-on-one in the back when Monaco has possession of the ball. I think the PSV backs should not play very high, because otherwise you will have problems in the center. They have not had many opportunities, but a dangerous header from Volland. But you just see that the three strikers play very close to each other, which you don’t see very often, and make it very difficult for Jordan Teze and Armando Obispo. Either you get Sangaré back one station, or you should let the backs play lower,” said the analyst.