PSV drop valuable points in 3-3 draw against NEC Nijmegen

PSV dropped points in an away game in the Eredivisie for the third time in a row on Saturday. They failed to beat NEC after having lost to SC Heerenveen (1-0) and PEC Zwolle (3-1) in recent weeks. PSV were 3-1 ahead near the end of the match before a mistake by Ryan Flamingo brought NEC back into the game. Bryan Linssen leveled the match deep in injury time.

Despite this, PSV is still top of the league with a five-point lead on nearest challenger Ajax. They have played two matches less than them, one of which is the match against Feyenoord on Sunday in the Klassieker.

PSV were also dealt a blow before the match. Defender Olivier Boscagli picked up a muscle injury in the match against Liverpool on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League and will be unavailable for the next few weeks.

The Frenchman now joins Malik Tillman and Ricardo Pepi, who are also not available due to injury. This led to manager Peter Bosz having to improvise in the defense, he opted for Armando Obispo as the center-back partner of Ryan Flamingo.

NEC seemed to feel that points could be gained against the league leaders and started with energy. Vito van Crooij and Sami Ouaissa tested Walter Benitez with shots from a distance. The PSV goalkeeper had no chance of stopping Sontje Hansen from scoring, but the forward missed the huge opportunity by shooting wide of the goal from close range.

PSV got through the difficult stage and had their first moment of danger halfway through the first half with a curled effort from Ismael Saibari, which went inches wide. Luuk de Jong was also close to the opening goal a short while later, but his effort also failed to go in. Benitez saved his team shortly before halftime with an impressive save to stop Calvin Verdonk’s effort.

The match changed after halftime. PSV started much more convincingly and pushed NEC back. De Jong opened the scoring in the 52nd minute with a shot from close range, which went into the roof of the net.

PSV did not take advantage of this, and NEC leveled the match against the run of play in the 66th minute. Again, the Eindhoven team conceded a goal from a set piece. This time it was a free kick, which ended up in front of Ouaissa and he shot home to make it 1-1.

Mauro Junior was coming forward well from the left-back position and set up goals for Ismael Saibari and then Johan Bakayoko to make it 3-1 in the 76th minute.

The game seemed over, but an attempted back pass, which was too short from Ryan Flamingo, ensured that Kento Shiogai got a goal back in the 90th minute. Bryan Linssen scored the 3-3 from a corner deep into injury time.