Paxten Aaronson’s man-of-the-match performance for FC Utrecht was not enough to overcome their draw at Heerenveen, while Richard Ledezma and Malik Tillman once again started for PSV in the team’s overall underwhelming win at Heracles.
SC Heerenveen 1 – 1 FC Utrecht
Paxten Aaronson was the star for Utrecht on Saturday, notching an assist on their early goal and nearly scoring another as they were forced to settle for a draw on their trip to Heerenveen.
Fellow American Taylor Booth had little impact in the game, only earning garbage-time minutes as a sub in the final moments as the team tried to hold on for the win against their far more motivated hosts.
Utrecht needed barely more than two minutes to net the opening goal, with the American displaying his vision in the attacking end to set up the score. Souffian Elkarouani launched a corner from the right side that bounced behind the crowd of bodies in front of goal and slipped through to Aaronson on the left side of the area.
The 20 year-old settled the ball with his left foot, before popping off a short pass back to the middle with the outside edge of his other foot, where Ole Romeny was waiting to smack it in from six yards.
Just past the nine-minute mark, Aaronson received the ball on the left and made his marking defender look foolish before slotting a low shot between several other players to the bottom right corner for the apparent 2-0. However, a VAR review indicated that Jens Toornstra was offside in the buildup, keeping the score at a tight 1-0 advantage for the visitors.
Aaronson nearly triggered another goal in the 23rd minute, setting Toornstra up for a low shot to the right corner, however Mickey van der Hart was up to the task for Heerenveen and made the save to keep the game tight.
In the end, the hosts, who dominated possession and peppered the Utrecht goal with 23 shots, did pull out a point with a late equalizer, after Jacob Trenskow ran onto a deflected cross and slammed home his shot from eight yards.
The result leaves Utrecht in eighth place after two games, with their next outing being a visit to NAC Breda on Saturday.
Heracles 1 – 3 PSV Eindhoven
A relatively quiet performance from PSV Eindhoven saw them eventually take the clear road win over promoted Heracles on Saturday, with Malik Tillman and Richard Ledezma both keeping their spots in Peter Bosz’s starting lineup.
Tillman was pulled by Bosz at the half after the team struggled to score in the opening 45 minutes, while Ledezma played for 73 minutes at right back, before being forced off the field with what looked to be a minor cramp.
Ricardo Pepi was an unused substitute in the game, although his lack of minutes could be at least partially chalked up to Bosz needing to use two subs to replace injured players. Sergiño Dest is still recovering from an ACL tear and is still several months away from the field.
The game couldn’t have started worse for PSV, after Fredrik Oppegård clearly knocked over Heracles attacker Bryan Limbombe as he streaked into the area on a counter, allowing Brian De Keersmaecker to put the hosts ahead from the spot in the fifth minute.
Joey Veerman came close to equalizing in the spectacular fashion midway through the half, spotting the Heracles keeper off his line and launching a shot from his own half of the field, however the ball bounced off the crossbar, saving what would have been an embarrassment to the hosts.
With PSV struggling to finish their chances despite dominating the flow of the game, Bosz pulled Tillman at the half in favor of Guus Til, and the move did pay off as the Dutch international contributed to two of the team’s three second-half goals.
Their first came in the 52nd minute as Til chased down a long ball in the box, however defender Ivan Mesik got the last touch to push it over the line for an own-goal.
Then shortly before the hour mark, Johan Bakayoko weaved his way from the right flank into the area, beat several defenders as he cut towards the middle, then targeted the lower right corner with a shot that fooled Heracles keeper Fabian de Keijzer.
Til then set up PSV’s insurance goal in the final moments of regulation, streaking forward from the midfield, then laying the ball off to Couhaib Driouech, who created just enough space amidst a trio of defenders to target the upper left corner for the 3-1.
Before coming off in the 73rd minute with an apparent cramp, Ledezma was once again more than proficient at right back. He completed 61 out of 69 passes with 89 overall touches, accurately fired two out of six long balls and crosses, won three out of his four tackles, made five recoveries, won six out of eight duels, and did not commit any fouls. His case for a continued starting role will be helped by the impending transfer of usual starting right back Jordan Teze to Monaco.
PSV are in first place after the win, and next visit Almere City on Saturday.
Notes
Agustin Anello was not in uniform for Sparta Rotterdam’s 1-1 road draw at FC Twente on Saturday.
Philippe Sandler is still injured and missed NEC Nijmegen’s 1-0 road loss at AZ Alkmaar on Saturday.
Anthony Fontana was left on PEC Zwolle’s bench on Sunday as they were blown out at home by Feyenoord by a 5-1 margin.
Kik Piere is still out injured and was not in uniform for Excelsior Rotterdam’s 3-1 home win over De Graafschap in Eerste Divisie action.
Gedion Zelalem was not available for FC Den Bosch’s 6-0 thrashing against overmatched visitors Jong AZ.
Rickson van Hees was not in uniform on Friday night as Jong Utrecht lost at home by a 2-0 margin to Jong PSV.
Only two of FC Dordrecht’s three Americans took the field for their 1-1 draw against visiting ADO Den Haag on Saturday. Joshua Pynadath made his first professional appearance since the 2022-23 season, playing the first half on the left side of the midfield before coming off after the break. Korede Osudina played 72 minutes on the opposite wing, however did not have as much of an impact as in his two-goal season opener. John Hilton was not in uniform for the hosts.
Jalen Hawkins was man of the match for FC Emmen, scoring the lone goal of the game in the 75th minute in the team’s 1-0 road win over FC Volendam.
