Sergino Dest was in stellar form as he assisted on a goal in PSV’s win over Excelsior to keep them undefeated in the Dutch Eredivisie.
PSV 3-1 Excelsior
PSV did not miss a beat after coming back from the winter break to secure a comfortable win over Excelsior at the Philips Stadion.
Both Sergino Dest and Malik Tillman started for the Farmers, with the former going the distance, completing 94 percent of his passes, winning two duels, making one tackle, and making a key pass along with a shot on goal. The latter played 76 minutes, completing 89 percent of his passes, winning five duels, making a tackle, and a key pass in addition to one shot. Ricardo Pepi came off the bench to play 14 minutes.
The hosts jumped out to the lead after 13 minutes when Luuk de Jong pounced on the loose ball following a free-kick.
PSV didn’t wait long to grab their second on the night as they extended their lead four minutes later. Dest would take a pass from Olivier Boscagli before toying with his marker on the left side of the field. The fullback then feinted a cross into the 18-yard box with his right foot, forcing the Excelsior defender to commit, then swept the ball over to his foot, took a few steps, and crossed the ball into the area for de Jong to head home.
Entering the second half with all of the momentum, PSV continued their hunt for more goals. Tillman came so close to grabbing himself one in the 62nd minute when the team put on a passing clinic that left the midfielder with a chance. However, his shot was smothered by Excelsior goalkeeper Stijn van Gassel.
The 21-year-old then intercepted a pass at midfield to lead a counterattack, leaving the ball for his teammate Johan Bakayoko to have a crack at goal, but his shot went wide of the mark.
PSV would eventually get their third in the 69th minute. Excelsior did poorly to clear out a corner kick, allowing Bakayoko to put the ball back into the area. Andre Ramalho’s pass found de Jong and he sealed his hat-trick with a close-range effort.
The visitors grabbed an equalizer in the 82nd minute, but there was no way they were going to knock off the league leaders.
PSV remains in first place in the standings with 51 points, 12 points ahead of Feyenoord.
Notes
Elsewhere in the Eredivisie, Philippe Sandler played the full 90 minutes as NEC came from behind to take point in their 2-2 draw with Feyenoord.
Zack Booth played 63 minutes as Volendam fell in a 1-0 defeat to Almere City.
Utrecht settled for a point in their 0-0 draw with Vitesse, with Taylor Booth remaining on the bench for the contest.
Down in the Eerste Divisie, both John Hilton and Korede Osundina started for Dordrecht in their 2-0 win over Helmond Sport.
ADO Den Haag secured all three points in a 5-3 thriller over De Graafschap. Justin Che, who had been out of action for some time, made his return as he played the final 16 minutes for the victors.
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