Red card helps PSV over dead point after early backlog


Saturday, April 23, 2022 at 10:52 PM• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 22:59

PSV booked a minimal victory in the Eredivisie on Saturday evening. The team of trainer Roger Schmidt had every possible problem with SC Cambuur, but eventually triumphed: 1-2. A red card from Sekou Sylla was the turning point in the match. Mario Götze headed in not much later and secured the victory. With the win, PSV narrows the gap to Ajax again to four points. The team from Amsterdam struggled to win at NEC (0-1) earlier in the evening. For Cambuur, which is twelfth, it is already the sixth loss in a row.

Schmidt decided to change his team in two positions compared to the won cup final against Ajax. Cody Gakpo was spared and started on the reserve bench, as was Ibrahim Sangaré. Basic places were made for Ritsu Doan and Bruma, so that Joey Veerman returned to his familiar position in midfield. It became clear after two minutes that PSV would have a difficult evening, when Patrick Joosten took the opening goal. The attacker accidentally saw the ball fall in front of his foot and then produced a small heel, which was too powerful for Yvon Mvogo and Ramalho.

PSV came into the game a little better after the opening goal and, in the person of Eran Zahavi, fired on the enemy goal for the first time. The Israeli striker was served with a nice through pass by Mauro Júnior, but found the fists of the well-keeping Pieter Bos in the short corner. A header was also not for the attack leader. On the pass of Mauro again, Zahavi headed past this time. It was thanks to Bos that Cambuur kept the lead well into the first half. The replacement for Sonny Stevens, who is emphatically applying for a permanent base place, had, among other things, a great response to an action by Doan.

The attacking urge of the people of Eindhoven did not go unrewarded. After a cartload of corner kicks, Ramalho managed to reach the detached Zahavi on the stroke of half-time, after which the striker was able to finish easily: 1-1. Schmidt decided to intervene halfway through and brought Sangaré into the team for Veerman, who visibly hated it. It didn’t have much of an impact on the gameplay. Cambuur limited himself to defending and did so with verve. The turning point in the game was the red card for Sylla. The left back acted on Doan after an hour of play and was able to call in with two yellow cards. Two minutes later, Götze took advantage of the man-more situation. The midfielder saw Bos pass under the ball after a corner from Mauro and hit the far post: 1-2.

For PSV it was already the fifteenth goal from a corner this season, a record this century. The surplus situation ensured that Schmidt’s team was barely in danger. Erick Gutiérrez hit the crossbar from a corner and a bombing between Zahavi and Mauro was stopped by Bos. The insertion of Gakpo and Maximiliano Romero should have caused some excitement in the last ten minutes, but again it was Bos that got in the way. After a through ball from Doan, he had a great save on a shot by Romero. The last moment of the match, a header by substitute Dylan Smit on a pass from Doke Schmidt, went just over.

No. Team m W G V † Pnt
1 Ajax 30 24 3 3 71 75
2 PSV 30 23 2 5 40 71
3 Feyenoord 29 19 4 6 39 61
4 FC Twente 30 18 7 5 15 61
5 AZ 30 18 4 8 22 58
6 Vitesse 29 13 5 11 -9 44
7 FC Utrecht 29 11 9 9 8 42
8 Fc Groningen 29 9 9 11 -6 36
9 Go Ahead Eagles 29 10 6 13 -8 36
10 NEC 30 9 8 13 -12 35
11 sc Heerenveen 30 9 7 14 -11 34
12 SC Cambuur 30 10 3 17 -18 33
13 Heracles Almelo 29 8 6 15 -11 30
14 RKC Waalwijk 30 6 10 14 -17 28
15 Fortuna Sittard 29 7 5 17 -31 26
16 PEC Zwolle 30 7 5 18 -20 26
17 Sparta Rotterdam 30 5 10 15 -23 25
18 William II 29 6 5 18 -29 23