PEC Zwolle opened its Eredivisie season on Sunday afternoon with a 0-1 defeat against Vitesse. Nikolai Frederiksen signed for the only goal after twenty minutes of play, which resulted from the home team’s loss of possession in their own half. Bram van Polen expresses his frustration at the fact that PEC smashed his own windows with that and that Vitesse mainly leaned back after the only goal.
“We are 0-1 behind due to a mistake by us. That opportunity they create is not because of their football. That’s because of our mistakes. Maybe they enforce that in part”, Van Polen begins his analysis in front of the camera of ESPN. “I’m happy with the way we showed ourselves to our audience. Only you have to start rewarding yourself, that’s a bit of a recurring story. We had some good chances, the football was a lot better and we did everything we could to score a goal.”
“Those guys did everything they could in the second half to kill the game, unfortunately that was rewarded,” continues the PEC captain. Vitesse’s goal caused him annoyance. “You shouldn’t be kicking your own half. That’s why I got angry. It’s a cliché, but you shouldn’t lose the ball there. You help them in the saddle, this is what they want. They have had a tough week and will play another match against Anderlecht next week. You know if they get a 0-1 lead, that’s exactly what they want. Then they sit back and rape the game. Perhaps a bit rude, because it is their right. I totally get it, but for us there would have been more residents. Then you want to reward yourself, especially at home.”
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“The first league match of the season is always difficult,” says Vitesse trainer Thomas Letsch in conversation with the Gelderlander after the victory over PEC. His team dealt with Dundalk last week and will now face Anderlecht in the last preliminary round of the Conference League. “You don’t know exactly where you stand, how strong the opponent is. It may not have been a pretty game to watch, but we fought hard as a team. This is a super achievement. PEC has had few chances. Yes, they often played the high ball. But our relatively small defenders have done very well.”
“This is what we came for”, Matús Bero was also in conversation with ESPN content about Vitesse’s victory. “If you play a lot of matches, sometimes you have to win ugly. It’s not easy to bring the same energy every time. Then you have to use your experience and play smart. We will now recover and focus on the next game.”