Sunday, November 28, 2021 at 6:41 PM• Tom Rofekamp

PSV lost expensive points on Sunday in the Eredivisie title battle. The still battered team of Roger Schmidt did itself short and drew 1-1 at sc Heerenveen. It was the ninth game in a row that the Frisians remained unbeaten against the Eindhoven team. PSV sees the gap with Ajax growing due to the draw: the club is two points behind the leader.

Roger Schmidt’s team saw Ajax win at Sparta Rotterdam (0-1) earlier in the afternoon and had to win to remain on an equal number of points. Johnny Janssen, however, already announced with his line-up that he would not make it easy for his colleague: the Frisians appeared in a 4-5-1 formation. PSV, however, had little trouble with that tactic. Already in the seventh minute, Bruma created a huge opportunity for Carlos Vinícius, but the Brazilian shot the ball wide. That same tandem was successful six minutes later. Bruma mounted an attack from the left wing, passed the ball to Ritsu Doan and received it back on the head two later. The header ended up in the feet of Vinícius, who finished convincingly: 0-1.

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— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) Nov 28, 2021

With the goal, the striker crowned himself the most valuable Eredivisie player since his first base place on October 24 against Ajax (three goals and four assists). Heerenveen did not get further than Rami Kaib’s departure in the first half hour; on the other side, Bruma failed to double the margin after a pass from Érick Gutierrez. A minute before half-time, Kaib almost shot the ball behind his own goalkeeper Xavier Mous, but the scoreboard remained 0-1 at halftime.

In the second half, Schmidt’s team went looking for the follow-up goal. PSV had the ball but was unable to express the dominance in opportunities. Out of nowhere, sc Heerenveen came on the same level. Twenty minutes before the end, Joël Drommel misjudged a free kick by Joey Veerman and punched the ball straight into the feet of substitute Rami Al Hajj. The Swede could effortlessly walk into the leather for the 1-1. PSV was stunned and couldn’t think of anything more to get the win over the line. SC Heerenveen thus lives up to its status as an ‘anxiety gegner’: for the ninth game in a row, the Eindhoven team did not win.