FC Utrecht suffered a painful defeat against Fortuna Sittard on Friday evening. Both teams found it just after the break: 1-2. Anastasios Douvikas gave the home team the lead, then a mistake by Victor Jensen led to Kristijan Bistrovic’s equalizer. Just before time, Tijjani Noslin Fortuna blasted to victory. Zakaria Labyad made his comeback in the base at Utrecht. Due to the defeat, Utrecht fails to take over sixth place from Sparta Rotterdam, while Fortuna climbs to eleventh place.
Utrecht blamed itself midweek in the TOTO KNVB Cup against Spakenburg (1-4) and therefore had something to put right for its own audience. Compared to the duel with the club from the Second Division, coach Michael Silberbauer made three changes. At left back, Mark van der Maarel replaced Hidde ter Avest, while right winger Victor Jensen moved to the bench in favor of Naoki Maeda. Zakaria Labyad made his comeback in the match against Spakenburg, but was allowed to start against Fortuna. The necessary changes were also observed at Fortuna. Compared to the duel with Feyenoord (2-4 defeat), Noslin, Úmaro Embalo, Arianit Ferati, Ximo Navarro and Rémy Vita were not in the starting eleven. That offered opportunities for Iñigo Córdoba, Thomas Buitink, Bistrovic, George Cox and Ivo Pinto.
Maeda provided the first major danger of the match. The Japanese dribbled into the box, but had to watch Fortuna goalkeeper Ivor Pandur reach his goal in time. The biggest chance of the first company came in the name of Mark van der Maarel, who accidentally got the ball at his feet via Pinto. The defender should have scored, but saw his wild effort end up over the goal. Sean Klaiber also had a good opportunity. The right back appreciated a splitting pass from Jens Toornstra and swung out with the left. However, the attempt lacked power, allowing Pandur to turn easily. Just before the break, Buitink had a good opportunity. The attacker was reached by a nice deep ball from the back, but before he got the ball in front of his feet, Vasilios Barkas thwarted the Limburg danger.
Utrecht started the second half well with Othman Boussaid. First of all, the technician had a nice through pass, which just couldn’t be used. Moments later, his pass led to a great chance for Maeda, who just couldn’t put his toe against the ball. Minutes after the tired Boussaid’s substitution, it was a hit. Pandur turned a header from Mike van der Hoorn, but was unable to prevent Douvikas from hitting the rebound: 1-0. However, the home team could not enjoy the lead for long. Substitute Jensen brought the ball very unluckily at the feet of Bistrovic, who left Barkas without a chance: 1-1. After Burak Yilmaz failed to give his team the lead, Jensen shot over minutes later. Substitute Noslin became Fortuna’s hero just in time. After an error of judgment at Utrecht, the attacker hit hard in the short corner: 1-2.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | v | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feyenoord | 23 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 31 | 52 |
| 2 | AZ | 24 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 22 | 50 |
| 3 | Ajax | 23 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 42 | 49 |
| 4 | PSV | 23 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 32 | 46 |
| 5 | FC Twente | 23 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 40 |
| 6 | Sparta Rotterdam | 23 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 37 |
| 7 | FC Utrecht | 24 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 37 |
| 8 | RKC Waalwijk | 23 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 32 |
| 9 | NEC | 23 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 30 |
| 10 | sc Heerenveen | 23 | 8 | 6 | 9 | -5 | 30 |
| 11 | Fortuna Sittard | 24 | 8 | 5 | 11 | -10 | 29 |
| 12 | Go Ahead Eagles | 23 | 6 | 8 | 9 | -6 | 26 |
| 13 | Vitesse | 24 | 5 | 8 | 11 | -14 | 23 |
| 14 | FC Volendam | 23 | 5 | 5 | 13 | -27 | 20 |
| 15 | Excelsior | 23 | 6 | 2 | 15 | -34 | 20 |
| 16 | FC Emmen | 23 | 3 | 9 | 11 | -20 | 18 |
| 17 | Fc Groningen | 23 | 4 | 5 | 14 | -23 | 17 |
| 18 | SC Cambuur | 23 | 3 | 4 | 16 | -26 | 13 |