Feyenoord hammer Almere; Sparta Rotterdam new league leaders
Feyenoord picked up their first victory of the season on their third attempt on Sunday in de Kuip against newly promoted Almere City. Santiago Gimenez, Igor Paixao, Lutsharel Geertruida, Mats Wieffer, and Quinten Timber scored the goals as the reigning champions romped to a 6-1 victory.
Gimenez set the marker down for the day by giving the Rotterdammers the lead after just three minutes, finishing with the aid of the inside of the post after a good assist by Igor Paixao. The match was halted three minutes later by referee Bas Nijhuis after stormy weather above De Kuip in Rotterdam. The match was resumed over an hour later.
Feyenoord continued their good form after the restart, scoring two minutes in. Calvin Stengs laid the ball back to Paixao, who finished easily. Two defenders combined to make it 3-0 after eighteen minutes when Gernot Trauner played the ball through to Lutsharel Geertruida, who did not fail one one-on-one with Almere goalkeeper Nordin Bakker.
Almere missed a huge opportunity to get a goal back. Thomas Robinet failed to convert an open goal on the Feyenoord goalline. Mats Wieffer showed him to finish in the 50th minute when he volleyed home a cross from Calvin Stengs.
Gimenez was fouled just after the hour mark in the box by an Almere defender, which resulted in a Feyenoord penalty. The Mexican striker stepped up to take the penalty and scored to get his second of the day and Feyenoord's fifth.
Jochem Ritmeester van der Kamp got a consolation goal for Almere in the 89th minute before Quinten Timber got the match's final goal to settle the scoreline at 6-1.
The Eredivisie does have a new league leader after this weekend from Rotterdam, but it is not Feyenoord. Sparta Rotterdam beat SC Heerenveen in Friesland to take the top spot. Sparta had beaten PEC Zwolle and drawn with Feyenoord in their first two games, and they were facing a Heerenveen side who had two wins out of two.
Sparta's forwards made the difference, with Tobias Lauritsen scoring the first goal and Japanese winger Koki Saito getting the second. Both goals were scored after Netherlands national team keeper Andries Noppert had saved shots from distance only to push the ball into the path of the strikers.
Noppert could do very little to save Saito's second goal of the day as the 22-year-old smashed a shot into the near post from distance. Pawel Bochniewics got a goal back for Heerenveen, but it was not enough as things went from bad to worse, with Thom Haye getting sent off after a very poor tackle.
Feyenoord faces a Utrecht team in crisis next weekend. Sparta is the Friday evening match at home against NEC Nijmegen. Almere faces another newly promoted side in PEC Zwolle, and Heerenveen will travel to Go Ahead Eagles.
