NEC give PSV their first league loss of the season in Nijmegen

PSV lost their first league match in fourteen months on Saturday. The leader of the Eredivisie lost 3-1 at NEC. The last defeat was at the end of January 2023 at FC Emmen (1-0).

Reigning champions Feyenoord can reduce the gap to PSV to 7 points on Sunday with a win over FC Utrecht. There are seven more league matches this season.

Nothing seemed to indicate that PSV's first defeat was coming today. Manager Peter Bosz had almost his entire squad available after the international break. Only winger Noa Lang is still injured. Bosz stuck with the starting team that won the previous league match against FC Twente (1-0). Midfielder Ismael Saibari, therefore, had to settle for a place on the reserve bench.

PSV took the lead after twenty minutes. After a through ball from Jerdy Schouten, Hirving Lozano's effort was first blocked. Johan Bakayoko was successful from the rebound: 0-1.

NEC had a difficult time but was helped by Joey Veerman shortly before halftime. The Volendammer made a mistake in his own sixteen-meter area and tried to correct it. However, Veerman committed a foul on Sylla Sow and saw referee Bas Nijhuis give a penalty on the advice of the video referee. Lasse Schöne scored his first goal of the season from the spot: 1-1.

Shortly after the break, the home team struck again. Walter Benítez, who debuted for the Argentinian national side this week, saved a shot by Mees Hoedemakers. However, Kodai Sano scored from the rebound to make it 2-1.

NEC proved to be particularly effective. After over an hour of play, Brayann passed the ball to Pereira, who got an assist due to Sow shooting the ball high into the goal: 3-1. PSV had another great chance to get back into the match. However, Jasper Cillessen saved a penalty from Luuk de Jong in the 81st minute.

For NEC, it was the first victory over PSV since November 2008. Due to the loss, PSV can no longer improve Ajax's record. The Eindhoven team remained undefeated in 42 competition matches. Ajax provided a longer series of 52 games unbeaten from August 1994 to December 1995.