Young Ajax booked a resounding victory in the Kitchen Champion Division on Monday evening. The U21 team was no less than 2-6 too strong for NAC Breda in the Rat Verlegh Stadium. At the same time, VVV-Venlo won the top match against Almere City (1-3). Kees de Boer made a shot at the Goal of the Year by scoring in Bergkampian style.
NAC Breda – Young Ajax 2-6
Ajax’s promising team took on NAC with a strong team. This is how Kian Fitz-Jim, Lorenzo Lucca and Francisco Conceição all started in the base. The first shot of the game was right on target. The team from Breda couldn’t get the ball out of their own sixteen, after which Donny Warmerdam scored the 0-1. The margin was already doubled after more than fifteen minutes, when Kian Fitz-Jim accelerated with the ball at his foot and passed to Amourricho van Axel Dongen. The captain finished coolly in the right corner: 0-2. Youri Baas made it 0-3 a few minutes later.
Hyballa had seen enough after half an hour and replaced Boyd Lucassen for Sabir Agougil. Young Ajax, however, continued to combine it lustfully. After a smooth attack, Lucca was responsible for the 0-4 from close range. The visitors continued where they left off after the break. Conceição put two opponents to watch and then calmly shot the 0-5 against the ropes. Young Ajax then slowed down, allowing Elías Már Ómarsson to put NAC on the scoreboard via the bottom of the crossbar. Jort van der Sande then made it 2-5. However, the final agreement was for Young Ajax defender Youri Regeer, who curled in the ball after replacing substitute Mika Gods: 2-6.
Almere City FC – VVV Venlo 1-3
The encounter between number three Almere City and number four VVV started well for the home team. Pascu brought the ball low in front of the goal in the eighteenth minute. Lance Duijvestijn’s ticker was turned, but in the rebound Jochem Ritmeester van de Kamp was able to easily round off at the second post: 1-0. VVV completely turned the game around after the break with goals in minutes 49, 54 and 61. The first of these came via a header in the name of Nick Venema, who provoked the supporters of his former employer Almere when they cheered. The next goal came in the name of De Boer, who took the ball with him in a brilliant pirouette and scored from a difficult angle: 1-2. The 1-3 came in the name of Martijn Berden, who printed inside the sixteen after a double one-two with De Boer.
?? ‘Bergkampian’ goal by Kees de Boer ??#ALMVVV pic.twitter.com/rmUFIowPrZ
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) March 13, 2023
De Graafschap – PEC Zwolle 0-1
PEC Zwolle started furiously and opened with shots on the post and crossbar by Davy van den Berg. The only goal of the game then came in the thirteenth minute. PEC simply played under the pressure that De Graafschap put and brought Lennart Thy into position in the ashes of the field. The striker was able to score after a good low pass from Thomas van den Belt from fifteen meters: 0-1. PEC managed to pull the minimum lead over the line, also because Haris Medunjanin took a header from De Graafschap defender Rio Hillen off the goal line after the break.
FC Eindhoven – ADO The Hague 1-1
The match between Eindhoven and ADO started fifteen minutes later on Monday, because the visitors’ team bus was in a traffic jam. Dick Advocaat’s team took the lead after ten minutes thanks to an own goal by Eindhoven talent Jasper Dahlhaus: 0-1. Then ADO got a huge chance to double the score via Thomas Verheydt, but Nigel Bertrams managed to turn his bet. In the final phase, Verheydt ADO’s miss was fatal, as Naoufal Bannis managed to outwit Sonny Stevens with a header: 1-1.
Young Utrecht – Young PSV 0-1
At Jong PSV, Ismael Saibari missed another excellent opportunity in the first half to give the Eindhoven U21 team the lead. After his big misses against NAC, he again missed a huge opportunity against Jong Utrecht on Monday evening. After the break, Jason van Duiven failed to open the score. PSV’s seventeen-year-old top talent saw his penalty kick saved by goalkeeper Kevin Gadellaa. A second penalty kick for the team from Eindhoven went well. Mathijs Tielemans managed to capitalize on the golden opportunity and thus secure the three points: 0-1.
The home team ruled in the first act. Nils Röseler, for example, hit the crossbar in the opening phase. After 22 minutes, the center defender hit the crossbar again from a half bicycle kick. It was not easy for Roda JC, because Xander Lambrix also hit the post after this. However, the deserved lead came just before half-time, after starting debutant Jamil Takidine had a cross on Romano Postema. The striker then worked in a controlled manner: 1-0. Trainer Edwin de Graaf did not see his team close the game until late in the second half. Anthony Limbombe outplayed Jong AZ closing post Daniël Deen to shoot the ball into an empty goal: 2-0.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | v | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PEC Zwolle | 29 | 21 | 3 | 5 | 47 | 66 |
| 2 | Heracles Almelo | 28 | 19 | 3 | 6 | 46 | 60 |
| 3 | VVV Venlo | 29 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 51 |
| 4 | Almere City FC | 28 | 15 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 49 |
| 5 | FC Eindhoven | 29 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 46 |
| 6 | William II | 28 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 44 |
| 7 | NAC Breda | 29 | 13 | 4 | 12 | -3 | 43 |
| 8 | MVV Maastricht | 28 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 41 |
| 9 | Roda JC Kerkrade | 29 | 12 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 40 |
| 10 | Young AZ | 29 | 11 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 40 |
| 11 | Telstar | 28 | 10 | 9 | 9 | -11 | 39 |
| 12 | The County | 29 | 11 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 39 |
| 13 | Ado den Haag | 29 | 10 | 9 | 10 | -6 | 39 |
| 14 | Young PSV | 29 | 9 | 8 | 12 | -4 | 35 |
| 15 | Helmond Sports | 28 | 9 | 5 | 14 | -17 | 32 |
| 16 | Young Ajax | 29 | 7 | 10 | 12 | -5 | 31 |
| 17 | TOP Oss | 28 | 9 | 3 | 16 | -16 | 30 |
| 18 | FC Den Bosch | 28 | 8 | 3 | 17 | -32 | 27 |
| 19 | FC Dordrecht | 28 | 7 | 5 | 16 | -17 | 26 |
| 20 | Young FC Utrecht | 28 | 5 | 5 | 18 | -22 | 20 |
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