PSV seemed to be on their way to an expensive loss of points against last-placed PEC Zwolle on Saturday evening, but still managed to make the difference in the last six minutes by scoring three times. With a 3-1 victory, the team of trainer Roger Schmidt continues to follow Ajax, which won 0-2 at sc Heerenveen earlier in the evening. “We made it difficult for ourselves, again. We were clearly the better team, had more chances and a lot of possession. But in the end it was difficult to score,” the PSV trainer acknowledged afterwards.
“We needed patience. We have to win these kinds of games more easily, but the most important thing is that we win.” Scoring is a problem, Schmidt acknowledged at the press conference. “We are creating more than enough opportunities and we should not talk ourselves into the coming games. I don’t think we played badly. Only we give the opponent a goal too easily and we have too much trouble to put ourselves on the scoreboard.”
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“That has to improve in the coming matches. We have to win more easily, we have to learn and develop ourselves, but I would only worry if we don’t get opportunities against a team that plays all the balls for long.” Schmidt emphasized that PSV not only played well in the final phase, because his team scored three times. “No, I thought the whole match was good”, the German coach reacted fiercely. “The only thing is that we didn’t score for a long time. That’s something else, but that doesn’t mean we played badly. We didn’t lose, did we?”
“No, it has become 3-1. A very, very well deserved win. Very, very well deserved.” Schmidt was asked why Ajax usually wins its matches easier than its team. He immediately pointed to the 0-1 defeat of the team from Amsterdam against FC Utrecht. “I think they lost last time… So what can I say to that? We look at ourselves. Ajax has a good team with a lot of potential and individual quality, which may also mean that they are more efficient. But we look at ourselves.”
Marco van Ginkel regretted that PSV had made it unnecessarily difficult against PEC. “In the first half we had three, four, five big chances. It took a long time today until we scored,” the midfielder sighed in conversation with ESPN. “We could have made it much easier in the first half by just scoring that goal. After that quick goal from PEC, it was important to keep the pace high and create opportunities, but we just didn’t use them. This is the second time in a row that it lasts until the final phase that we score”, Van Ginkel referred to the 2-1 victory over Sparta Rotterdam at the beginning of this month. “It was now with the heels over the ditch.”
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajax | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 22 |
| 2 | PSV | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 21 |
| 3 | FC Utrecht | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 17 |
| 4 | Feyenoord | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 16 |
| 5 | William II | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| 6 | FC Twente | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 |
| 7 | sc Heerenveen | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 13 |
| 8 | Vitesse | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | -7 | 13 |
| 9 | SC Cambuur | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | -6 | 12 |
| 10 | NEC | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | -5 | 11 |
| 11 | Heracles Almelo | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 10 |
| 12 | Go Ahead Eagles | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | -7 | 10 |
| 13 | AZ | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
| 14 | Fortuna Sittard | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -8 | 8 |
| 15 | RKC Waalwijk | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | -3 | 7 |
| 16 | Fc Groningen | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -7 | 6 |
| 17 | Sparta Rotterdam | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -9 | 6 |
| 18 | PEC Zwolle | 9 | 0 | 1 | 8 | -14 | 1 |