Cole Bassett’s paperwork went through in time for him to make his debut with Fortuna Sittard in their heavy home loss, while Taylor Booth saw significant substitute action in Utrecht’s road defeat.
Fortuna Sittard 1 – 4 Cambuur Leeuwarden
Cole Bassett made his debut for Fortuna Sittard on Saturday, but was unable to prevent the team from collapsing in the final minutes in a heavy home loss to Cambuur Leeuwarden.
Fortuna had kept matters under control in the hour before Bassett entered, with their flukey tenth-minute opener by Burak Yilmaz canceled out two minutes after the half by a laser strike from Michael Breij.
Bassett entered at the hour mark for right winger Paul Gladon, and had a decent first showing, with a pair of shots, ten completed passes in 13 attempts and 20 total ball contacts.
Still, the Yellow-Blues stormed to what would eventually be a blow-out with a flurry of goals beginning in the final phase of the game.
First, Mees Hoedemakers put his team ahead in the 79th minute with a low, bouncing strike to the lower right corner, then added a second to his account eight minutes later with a low, slow shot to the lower left corner, that was helped with poor positioning by the Fortuna keeper.
Finally, in the second minute of added time, the visitors added a fourth and final goal, as Jasper ter Heide lofted a looping, 20-yard shot from straight out to the upper right corner.
Fortuna finish the round second-bottom, having gained no points from their first three games. They are back in action on Saturday with a visit to Heerenveen.
FC Emmen 3 – 2 FC Utrecht
Taylor Booth was relegated to the substitutes bench for Utrecht, playing the final 20-plus minutes of the game as they fell on the road to FC Emmen
Similar to the case with Bassett, Booth came into the game during the second half with the two teams still on even terms, however with a bit more fireworks over the first hour having set a generally higher tempo.
Anastasios Douvikas headed in the opener for Utrecht on a tenth-minute corner, but Ole ter Haar Romeny equalized three minutes before the half-hour, lurking near the penalty spot to one-time a tricky corner from Mark Diemers.
Utrecht’s lead was restored seven minutes later on yet another corner, with Bas Dost stooping to head in Can Bozdogan at the near post, but once again the hosts pulled even, this time with Rui Mendes left alone for an easy finish from the right side of the six-yard box in the 59th minute.
Booth entered the game as a pair of fresh legs in place of Bozdogan in the 68th minute. In his 22 minutes of play, he had 19 total touches, completed six of 11 passes, set up one chance, had two successful dribbles in three attempts, was dispossessed twice, won three of his seven duels, and his only tackle.
Still, it would be the hosts who would finally have the final reason to celebrate, as Jari Vlak took the Utrecht keeper by surprise with a 25-yard attempt from out of nowhere, that took a slow bounce on its way towards flying in just inside the right upright.
Utrecht are in 12th place, with two points from their first three games. They have a tough follow-up on Saturday when they host league leaders Ajax.
Jong Ajax 5 – 1 De Graafschap
Kik Pierie started and played 82 minutes in the Jong Ajax central defense, as they had no problems to blow past De Graafschap in Monday-night Eerste Divisie action.
After a disastrous gaffe amidst an otherwise decent performance in Jong Ajax’s last outing, Pierie redeemed himself with a strong performance in the central defense over his 82 minutes.
He had 97 total touches, completed 93% of his 81 passing attempts, took one shot and created another chance, nailed 12 of 15 long balls, won his only tackle attempt, made two clearances, won four of his six duels and committed a pair of fouls.
While the two teams traded first-half goals, with Sontje Hansen one-timing a shot from six yards in the night minute for the Ajax Lead and Camiel Neghli equalizing with a nifty 12-yard roller in the 42nd, the remainder was a clinical show by the hosts.
Hansen added a second in the 44th minute with a nice turn and low strike to the right, then Gabriel Misehouy made it three for the hosts in the 70th minute with a fine run and precisely targeted shot across the penalty area, just inside the left upright.
Christian Rassmussen turned it into a blowout four minutes later with a looping strike off the crossbar, then Lorenzo Lucca made it five with an easy in the 80th minute.
Following a fine performance, Pierie was pulled after 82 minutes for Mateja Milovanovic, however the score held, giving Jong Ajax the thumping victory.
Highlights of the game can be seen here.
The Ajax reserves return to the field on Sunday with a visit to ADO Den Haag.
Jong PSV 0 – 3 Heracles Almelo
Dante Sealy saw it all go wrongly in the final seconds of his second-half substitute appearance for Jong PSV, drawing then missing the subsequent penalty in injury time in the team’s heavy loss at home to Heracles.
In his half of play, the American U-20 player had 23 touches and completed ten of 12 passes, while taking a pair of shots, however his otherwise decent game in the losing effort will be remembered for the wasted opportunity in the final seconds.
In the first half, the two teams were only separated by a 24th-minute goal from Lucas Schoofs, who was left free in front of the PSV goal to redirect in a low cross from Nikolai Laursen.
Sealy entered at the half as additional attacking firepower, however matters only became worse for the hosts, whose hopes of a come-back were effectively put to rest before the hour mark.
Anas Ouahim made it 2-0 for Heracles in the 51st minute when he picked up a loose ball in the PSV area and made no mistake with his low strike, then Emil Hansson was the beneficiary of another fine cross from Laursen.
With the game effectively over, Sealy almost netted a late consolation for PSV when he was tripped up on a run into the area in the 92nd minute, however his spot kick, while hit well to the right side, was saved by Michael Brouwer, preserving the shut-out
Sealy and his teammates will be back in action on Friday night with a visit to FC Eindhoven.
Highlights of the game can be seen here.
Notes
PSV had weekend off to prepare for the second leg of their Champions League qualification playoff against Rangers, meaning that the injured Richard Ledezma technically didn’t miss their postponed league game against FC Volendam.
Joshua Pynadath wasn’t in the Jong AZ Alkmaar roster on Monday night for their 3-2 win over Almere City.
