PSV booked a resounding victory in the Eredivisie on Sunday evening. In the Philips Stadium, the team of trainer Roger Schmidt against Fortuna Sittard already enjoyed a 3-0 lead halfway through, which was expanded even further in the second company: 5-0. Thanks to the victory, PSV’s gap to leader Ajax was limited to two points, while the lead over number three Feyenoord rose to nine points.
Schmidt was forced to change his team position compared to the won Conference League match with FC Copenhagen (0-4). Cody Gakpo was brutally kicked out of the game last Thursday, leaving him unfit to start against Fortuna. The winger’s honors were observed by Joey Veerman. The three-man vanguard was completed by Ritsu Doan and Eran Zahavi. It was also a special meeting for goalkeeper Yanick van Osch, who previously played for PSV and played his hundredth game as a professional football player.
The engine starts to run in Eindhoven: Eran Zahavi puts @PSV at 3-0 ??? † #PSVFOR pic.twitter.com/gh8RqPZ13v
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) March 20, 2022
From the first whistle, PSV left nothing to chance, because after ten minutes the team from Eindhoven had already created three great opportunities. Where Mauro Júnior saw his attempt stopped by Van Osch and Veerman placed a shot just on the wrong side of the post, Philipp Max was accurate. Zahavi’s header was initially parried by Van Osch, but from the rebound that followed Max was able to provide the opening goal: 1-0. Fortuna’s first serious attempt came in the eighteenth minute, when Mats Seuntjens shot wide from the second line.
PSV remained the dominant party and expressed their dominance on the scoreboard more than five minutes before the halftime signal. After a nice combination with Zahavi, Doan got the ball back and scored his seventh goal of the season: 2-0. Two minutes later it happened again. Mauro Júnior had a perfect, spinning cross from the right to Zahavi, who convincingly nodded in the 3-0. In the second act, PSV would walk much further away from Fortuna, which hardly appeared in the spectacle.
The first opportunity after the break was noted by Zahavi, who hit Van Osch with a header from close range. The goalkeeper saved his team for a long time against even more goals, but in the 77th Van Osch capitulated for the fourth time. Substitute Bruma was able to put Andreas Samaris off the ball in a childishly simple way, giving him free passage towards the hostile sixteen. With the right and through the leg of Mickael Tirpan, Bruma finally produced a successful effective shot into the bottom left corner: 4-0. The final chord was played by another substitute: Carlos Vinícius. Veerman got the ball in the box and gave the Brazilian a measured through ball. It was then a breeze for Vinícius to put the final score on the scoreboard from close range: 5-0.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | † | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajax | 27 | 21 | 3 | 3 | 67 | 66 |
| 2 | PSV | 27 | 21 | 1 | 5 | 37 | 64 |
| 3 | Feyenoord | 27 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 34 | 55 |
| 4 | FC Twente | 27 | 16 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 54 |
| 5 | AZ | 26 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 20 | 51 |
| 6 | Vitesse | 26 | 12 | 5 | 9 | -7 | 41 |
| 7 | FC Utrecht | 27 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 40 |
| 8 | Fc Groningen | 27 | 9 | 9 | 9 | -2 | 36 |
| 9 | SC Cambuur | 27 | 10 | 3 | 14 | -15 | 33 |
| 10 | NEC | 27 | 8 | 8 | 11 | -10 | 32 |
| 11 | sc Heerenveen | 27 | 8 | 6 | 13 | -12 | 30 |
| 12 | Go Ahead Eagles | 27 | 8 | 6 | 13 | -13 | 30 |
| 13 | Heracles Almelo | 27 | 7 | 6 | 14 | -10 | 27 |
| 14 | RKC Waalwijk | 27 | 6 | 9 | 12 | -13 | 27 |
| 15 | William II | 26 | 6 | 4 | 16 | -23 | 22 |
| 16 | Fortuna Sittard | 26 | 6 | 4 | 16 | -32 | 22 |
| 17 | Sparta Rotterdam | 25 | 4 | 9 | 12 | -18 | 21 |
| 18 | PEC Zwolle | 27 | 5 | 5 | 17 | -22 | 20 |