Cole Bassett’s first start for Fortuna Sittard only lasted for half of the game, while U-20 USMNT forward Dante Sealy made up for last week’s missed chance with his first goal of the new season.
SC Heerenveen 2 – 1 Fortuna Sittard
A half of action was all that Cole Bassett saw for Fortuna Sittard in his first start for Fortuna Sittard, as the team couldn’t recover from an early two-goal deficit in their road loss at Heerenveen.
In his first shot at starting action, Bassett managed 25 touches over one half of play, completing 16 of 19 passing attempts, however took no shots and didn’t create any chances for the generally flaccid Fortuna attack in the early going.
Heerenveen were first to strike, taking the lead after 22 minutes in clinical fashion. Amin Sarr fired in a low cross from the left side, which took a slight deflection off of Inigo Cordoba’s foot on its way to Sydney van Hooijdonk for an easy tap-in.
One minute before the end of the first half, Saar tried an awkward shot on the turn from 11 yards out, which was initially blocked by Fortuna central defender Dimitris Siovas, but plopped down at the foot of Milan van Ewijk for a perfect one-timed finish from the edge of the area.
While by no means bad in his half of play, Bassett was pulled at the half in favor of forward Paul Gladon for some extra firepower. The visitors had little chance to overturn the deficit, but were able to grab a consolation goal at the end, when Burak Yilmaz was tripped up by Joost van Aken as he broke free into the area.
The 37 year-old Turkish veteran took the resulting spot kick and nailed it to the upper left corner in the 84th minute for the final 2-1 scoreline.
The result leaves Fortuna dead last in the Eredivisie standings with no points from their first four games. They return to action on Friday with a visit from Taylor Booth and FC Utrecht.
Highlights of the game can be seen here.
FC Utrecht 0 – 2 Ajax
Taylor Booth played most the second half in Utrecht’s midfield on Sunday afternoon, helping the team to keep the scoreine respectable in their home loss to league powerhouse Ajax.
The reigning Dutch champions looked headed to an entirely expected big when after jumping out to a two-goal before the halftime whistle, but Utrecht buckled down after the break and put on a good show of resistance to at least take some pride from the final 45 minutes of the game.
The visitors opened the scoring in the tenth minute, following a tricky variation on a short corner that ended with Mexican midfielder Edson Alvarez heading the ball on to Steven Berghuis at the far corner for an easy headed finish.
Berghuis then turned provider for their second just before the break, firing in a sharp cross from the left side, which former RB Leipzig failure Brian Brobbey somehow managed to head in amongst a crowd of defenders fro the 2-0 lead.
Booth was called into action just before the hour mark, taking the place of left-sided midfielder Othman Boussaid. While Utrecht never effectively pushed forward to cut the lead, Booth and his teammates did a fine job to keep the second-half under control.
For his part, the American had 40 touches over 45 minutes and completed 76% of his 29 passes, and held possession well, only being dispossessed once.
With the loss, Utrecht is 15th place in the standings after four games, and will be gunning for their first win on Friday when they visit Cole Bassett and last-place Fortuna Sittard.
Highlights of the game can be seen here.
PEC Zwolle 4 – 2 Jong PSV
Dante Sealy earned the start for Jong PSV in Friday night’s Eerste Divisie action, netting their first goal in a road loss at PEC Zwolle.
Zwolle wasted no time in stamping their authority on the game, taking the opening kick all the way into the Jong PSV area, with Jordy Tutuarima’s low finish from nine yards out giving them the 1-0 lead with less than ten seconds played.
They added a second in the 34th minute with Apostolos Vellios laying the ball off to Tomislav Mrkonjic for an emphatic strike from near the penalty area, then made it 3-0 just before the half after Mrkonjic was waiting at the far side of the area to tap in a cross from Bart van Hintum.
Sealy picked up his second yellow of the season in the 55th minute, but quickly put it out of memory, adeptly pouncing on blocked shot from Jeremy Antonisse and smashing it home from five yards to cut the lead to 3-1.
However, former German youth international Lennart Thy put the game out of reach in the 81st minute, lobbing a shot from the right edge of the area over the head of the helpless PSV keeper to restore the three-goal lead.
While PSV substitute August Priske did pull his team within two goals three minutes later with a fine one-timed shot from Simon Colyn’s cross, the result was never under threat for the hosts.
Sealy and the PSV development squad will be back in action on Monday, Sept. 5 when they host TOP Oss.
ADO Den Haag 4 – 0 Jong Ajax
Kik Pierie and Jong Ajax had severe issues with their Eerste Divisie opposition ADO Den Haag on Sunday, falling in a four-goal loss that saw them unable to deal with their hosts’ constant pressure.
Pirie put in a solid shift in the loss, making a total of 116 touches in the central defense, completing 93% of his 101 passing attempt, creating one chance, hitting nine of 11 long ball attempts, and winning seven of 12 duels.
Nevertheless, a ruthless performance by the hosts, which saw them put four in over the first hour, send Jong Ajax to an embarrassing loss.
Joel Zwarts opened the scoring after less than two minutes when he headed in a cross from Xander Severina at the left post, then Severina netted one of his own in the 38th minute when he was freed into the area by Max De Waal and fired his shot under the grasp of keeper tom de Graaff.
De Wall made it 3-0 shortly after the half with a lob over the keeper, then Severina added his second at the hour with a beautiful curling shot from the edge of the area.
The Ajax reserves will try to lick their wounds and get a result at home when they return to action on Monday, Sept. 5 against promotion favorites Heracles.
Notes
Richard Ledezma is still recovering from an ankle injury and was not in uniform as PSV Eindhoven destroyed their hosts Excelsior Rotterdam by a 6-1 margin.
New signing Joshua Pynadath didn’t suit up for AZ Alkmaar’s youth squad for their Eerste Divisie game on Friday night, a 1-0 road loss at FC Eindhoven.
