FC Twente booked a convincing victory in the Eredivisie on Saturday evening. The Tukkers were 0-3 too strong for Fortuna Sittard thanks to a goal by Vaclav Cerny and a double by Manfred Ugalde. The victory strengthens Twente’s fifth position, Fortuna remains stuck in eleventh place.
Fortuna was battered against Twente. Burak Yilmaz was missing due to an injury. The captain of the Limburgers was already good for nine goals and five assists this season. Trainer Julio Velázquez also did not have access to Oguzhan Özyakup, Dogan Erdogan and Iñigo Córdoba. Ugalde started surprisingly in the base for the visitors. The Costa Rican was preferred by Ron Jans to Ricky van Wolfswinkel, who has not been in his best shape for several weeks. Joshua Brenet was left out of the selection against sc Heerenveen (3-3) due to disciplinary reasons. Against Fortuna he started on the bench, so that Alfons Sampsted was again at right back.
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In the first 25 minutes there was little to enjoy for the supporters. Both teams seemed powerless offensively and the many absentees made themselves felt clearly. In the end it was the replacement for the injured Yilmaz, Thomas Buitink, who created the first danger. Úmaro Embaló crossed, after which the center forward crept in front of Robin Pröpper and forced Lars Unnerstall to make a serious save. Twente only came out of its shell just before halftime. First, Propper saw his header cleared off the line by Rodrigo Guth. Cerny then saw a bet go wide.
Jans decided to bring Van Wolfswinkel into the team for Sem Steijn at the start of the second half. Brenet replaced Sampsted with one hour on the clock. The substitutions had the desired effect, as Cerny managed to break the spell halfway through the second half. The wing attacker easily passed George Cox and then found the far corner: 0-1. Ugalde repaid Jans’ trust twice over. The striker received the ball after a quick free kick and he also placed the ball in the long corner: 0-2. Ugalde personally decided the game in the 78th minute, after he was able to finish empty after a smooth attack in Fortuna’s sixteen: 0-3. Because of the big lead, Sander Sybrandy was able to make his debut in the closing minutes.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | v | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feyenoord | 24 | 16 | 7 | 1 | 32 | 55 |
| 2 | Ajax | 24 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 43 | 52 |
| 3 | AZ | 24 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 22 | 50 |
| 4 | PSV | 24 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 33 | 49 |
| 5 | FC Twente | 25 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 21 | 44 |
| 6 | Sparta Rotterdam | 24 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 40 |
| 7 | FC Utrecht | 24 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 37 |
| 8 | RKC Waalwijk | 24 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 32 |
| 9 | SC Heerenveen | 24 | 8 | 7 | 9 | -5 | 31 |
| 10 | NEC | 24 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 30 |
| 11 | Fortuna Sittard | 25 | 8 | 5 | 12 | -13 | 29 |
| 12 | Go Ahead Eagles | 24 | 6 | 8 | 10 | -9 | 26 |
| 13 | Vitesse | 24 | 5 | 8 | 11 | -14 | 23 |
| 14 | FC Volendam | 24 | 6 | 5 | 13 | -25 | 23 |
| 15 | FC Emmen | 25 | 4 | 9 | 12 | -20 | 21 |
| 16 | Excelsior | 25 | 6 | 2 | 17 | -39 | 20 |
| 17 | Fc Groningen | 24 | 4 | 5 | 15 | -24 | 17 |
| 18 | SC Cambuur | 24 | 4 | 4 | 16 | -23 | 16 |