Feyenoord makes hard work of Volendam at home; Emmen gets a huge win

Feyenoord defeated FC Volendam in De Kuip on Sunday evening, but it was a lot more challenging than Arne Slot would have wanted. The league leaders went behind after 12 minutes. Still, they were able to turn it around to win 2-1 through a goal from Santiago Gimenez and an own goal by Volendam defender Damon Mirani.

Volendam silenced De Kuip by opening the scoring after 12 minutes. Henk Veerman controlled a long ball before feeding the ball through to Daryl van Mieghem, whose shot went in via Feyenoord goalkeeper Timo Wellenreuther.

The Rotterdammers were perhaps a little unfortunate not to have been awarded a penalty when Danilo was tripped up in the box. The referee and VAR official decided that it was not a penalty.

Santiago Gimenez scored a typical Striker’s goal to level the game. The Mexican striker scored his 7th league goal of the season by connecting with a low-driven cross from Lutsharel Geertruida and poking it home.

Gimenez also had a big part to play in the winning goal for Feyenoord. The 21-year-old turned his man before firing across goal, which then deflected into the net via the unlucky Damon Mirani.

Feyenoord is three points clear of Ajax at the top of the table, who they face next week in Amsterdam. First, they have the second leg of their Europa League tie against Shakhtar Donetsk to play on Thursday in Rotterdam.

On Saturday, FC Emmen picked up a vital win against the hopelessly out-of-form Excelsior. Ole Romeny scored in the 63rd and 71st minute to give the side a 2-0 victory.

Emmen leapfrogged Excelsior in the league table with the win and are now outside the relegation zone. Excelsior is in the relegation play-off spot, three points ahead of FC Groningen.

Excelsior has lost five matches in a row now, with two of them coming against relegation rivals.