Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 6:25 PM• Chris Meijer • Last update: 18:27

Sparta Rotterdam took very important points in the fight against relegation on Saturday afternoon. Due to a goal by Adil Auassar, Go Ahead Eagles – which had to do without the corona-infected head coach Kees van Wonderen – was defeated 1-0 at Het Kasteel. A serious injury to Tom Beugelsdijk cast a shadow over the game: the defender had a nasty fall after only a minute of play and was taken off the field after being treated for minutes with a concussion. Sparta climbs from last to sixteenth place in the Eredivisie due to the victory; Go Ahead remains eleventh for the time being.

The match between Sparta and Go Ahead had a dramatic start, because within a minute Beugelsdijk ended up completely wrong after an aerial duel with Isac Lidberg. Referee Richard Martens immediately recognized the seriousness of the situation and urged the caretakers to get onto the field quickly. The players of Sparta and Go Ahead formed a hedge together to block the view of Beugelsdijk’s treatment. Caregivers of Sparta and Go Ahead and the rushed first aid were busy with him for about six minutes, before Beugelsdijk was taken off the field with a stretcher on a golf cart to loud applause and singing from supporters of both teams.

Martens briefly consulted with captains Adil Auassar and Bas Kuipers before the match resumed with Bart Vriends replacing Beugelsdijk. It became clear relatively quickly during the first half that things were going well for Beugelsdijk: he had suffered a concussion and did not need to be taken to hospital for further examination. The shock was visible after the incident, because the game got off to a slow start after the restart.

Both teams came before half time – which was delayed by seven minutes of injury time, not much further than a few pinpricks: a bet by Luuk Brouwers on behalf of Go Ahead was blocked, while Vito van Crooij got two opportunities on behalf of the home team. The danger in the penalty areas was also a long time coming in the second half. After less than an hour of play, substitute Lennart Thy’s effort went just past Andries Noppert’s goal and ten minutes later the ban was broken on Het Kasteel.

A free kick by Van Crooij was headed against the ropes by Auassar with 68 minutes on the clock. The opening goal provided an impulse for Sparta, as the home team emphatically went in search of the second goal. Noppert prevented a hit from Thy, but was beaten by Mario Engels fifteen minutes before the end. However, his goal was canceled due to offside. Sparta then failed to close the game via Thy and Laurent Jans, so that Go Ahead could hope for a point until the last minute. However, the visitors couldn’t get further than a shot by Giannis-Fivos Botos that was turned by Maduka Okoye.