PSV make a statement with a 2-5 win against second-place FC Utrecht
PSV sent a warning sign to the rest of the Eredivisie on Sunday when they beat second-place FC Utrecht 2-5 in the Galgenwaard. Goals from Ismail Saibari (2), Guus Til (2), and Johan Bakayoko resulted in a convincing victory for Peter Bosz's side, who are now eight points clear at the top of the Eredivisie table.
Joey Veerman returned to the PSV squad after a lengthy time out with an injury. The last time he was a part of PSV’s match-day squad was in September. Peter Bosz was also missing Rick Karsdorp and Mauro Junior. Center back Mike van der Hoorn was missing for Utrecht due to illness. He was replaced by Matisse Didden.
The first goal fell in the 12th minute. Ismael Saibari was completely unmarked when he was picked out by Noa Lang. The midfielder took advantage of this by placing the ball into the far corner.
PSV were dominating possession as Utrecht sat back and waited for a moment to launch a counterattack. It was all going to play for the Eindhovenaren until a penalty given to Utrecht changed the match. A free kick from Miguel Rodriguez hit Johan Bakayoko’s arm. Anthony Descotte did not strike the penalty well and could consider himself fortunate his penalty went in as it hit the hands of Walter Benitez.
Besides the goals, there were not many chances in the first half. Lang had the biggest opportunity a few minutes before halftime when he was played in by a terrific pass from Malik Tillman, but the winger’s touch was off, and the FC Utrecht keeper was able to smother it.
The away side was creating a lot of danger on the left-hand side. Lang found his overlapping defender on several occasions before it finally cost Utrecht. It was center-back Olivier Boscagli who came up from the back and received the ball from Lang before he played a perfect cross across the box to Til, who hit it into the empty net to put PSV back in front.
Utrecht almost leveled again a minute later. A shot attempt from Siebe Foreman’s fell fortunately for Descotte in the six-yard box, but Benitez saved his effort.
Bosz’s side doubled their lead with a beautiful piece of team football in the 68th minute. Richard Ledezma passed the ball to Luuk de Jong, who played it on with one touch to Til, who had made a run. This resulted in a one-on-two situation with Til and Saibari vs the Utrecht goalkeeper, and Til made the decision very quickly passing it to Saibari to score and make it 1-3.
It was 1-4 five minutes later. Utrecht was pushing to get back into the game resulting in many players going forward to attack. This led to Lang finding Saibari in the large amount of space behind the Utrecht defense. He took his time and waited for the space to be freed up to play Bakayoko in, who made up for his error with the first Utrecht goal by sending Barkas the wrong way.
Utrecht got a goal back in the 88th minute when Horemans headed home from a free kick by Sofian El Karouani, and with this being the week of Dutch comebacks in football, the Utrecht fans were feeling confident. But this was silenced a few minutes later because of an incredible shot by Til, which made it 2-5.
PSV are now eight points clear of Utrecht in the league table. Ron Jans’ side will drop to third if Ajax manages to defeat NEC on Sunday afternoon.
