Feyenoord win the Rotterdam derby; RKC pick up a vital win
Feyenoord were victorious in the Rotterdam derby on Sunday. The reigning champions beat Sparta Rotterdam 2-0 in de Kuip. David Hancko converted a penalty before Lutsharel Geertruida got the last goal of the match.
Sparta held the home side to mainly shots from distance in the first half. The most significant chance came in the 48th minute when Igor Paixao headed an easy chance wide from a cross by winger Yankuba Minteh. The Gambian kept causing havoc on the wing and had a massive part in the opening goal. He dribbled to the byline, where Django Warmerdam fouled him in the box. The referee gave a penalty after a VAR check, which Centre Back David Hancko scored, sending Nick Olij the wrong way.
Arne Slot’s substitutions had the desired effect almost instantly, as Luka Ivanusec got an assist with one of his first touches of the ball. The Czech Republic winger cut inside before putting in a perfect cross for Lutsharel Geertruida to run on to and steer home.
Mats Wieffer thought he had made it 3-0 from a corner, but his goal was disallowed due to a VAR review as the ball struck his hand before bouncing down into his path. Sparta had their only real moment of danger in the final minutes, but Hancko was on hand to clear a header off the goalline.
There was no change in the league table for Slot’s side as league leaders PSV also won at FC Volendam, meaning that the gap to them is still ten points, and FC Twente also won. Feyenoord are five points ahead of the Tukkers. Sparta are now four matches without a win and have dropped to tenth in the Eredivisie standings.
RKC Waalwijk picked up a massive win on Friday night against NEC Nijmegen. Two goals from David Min ensured that Henk Fraser’s side left with all three points. The win turned out to be even more critical as Vitesse gave away a 2-0 lead away to Heracles to lose 3-2 on Saturday.
The Arnhemmers were two goals up after half an hour played due to goals scored by Kacper Kozlowski and Melle Meulensteen. They seemed comfortable until captain Nicolas Isimat-Mirin made a disastrous error, getting himself sent off for a second bookable offence.
The score was 1-2 at the time as Jordy Bruijn had gotten a goal back for the home side. Jizz Hornkamp got a double in the 57th and 71st minute to complete the comeback in the Erve Asito stadium.
Volendam had no luck either, as they were trounced 1-5 by PSV despite taking a shock early lead. PSV defender Jordan Teze scored an own goal in the first minute in Volendam. Ismael Saibari equalized after 12 minutes played, meaning the halftime score was surprisingly 1-1.
But the Eindhovenaren showed the difference in quality in the second half with goals from Jerdy Schouten, Teze, Ricardo Pepi, and a first goal for youngster Isaac Babadi.
RKC is now six points ahead of Vitesse and Volendam in a playoff spot against relegation. Volendam and Vitesse are in the automatic relegation places and will need to start picking up points fast to get out of it.
