EREDIVISIE: FC Twente 0-0 Feyenoord |

SUNDAY 31ST AUGUST

FC TWENTE 0 – 0 FEYENOORD

There were no goals in the match between FC Twente and Feyenoord, but there were plenty of chances for both. The quality in the final third was lacking. However there were positives for both, especially in the midfields writes Jack Jackman.

Feyenoord were facing a difficult trip to face FC Twente and it would be a real test of the new side, after the summer of changes that have taken place. It looks like Jordy Clasie is set to stay, which will be a huge boost and he captained the side today. It was the away side that had the better of the early exchanges as Jean-Paul Boëtius had his shot saved by Nick Marsman, while the in-form Mitchell te Vrede had two chances, the first he headed wise, and the second was a shot well saved by the Twente goalkeeper.

The home side started to come into the game as Hakim Ziyech started to threaten, forcing a save from range. The likes of him, Kyle Ebecilio, Luc Castaignos and Youness Mokhtar in the same side is very exciting. Around the half an hour mark, Lex Immers had a great chance to open the scoring for Feyenoord, but his close range shot was excellently saved by Mulder.

Then the big moment of the first half arrived as Boëtius was brought down in the box by Cuco Martina and the referee awarded the away side with a penalty. It was Te Vrede who stepped up to take it, but Marsman guessed the right way and saved a tame penalty. Minutes later, Tonny Vilhena had a decent chance as he found room inside the box, but he failed to find a way past Marsman. The first half ended goalless, but it was an entertaining half and it started to look like the new look Feyenoord team could do things this season in the Eredivisie, with Boëtius looking particularly threatening.

The second half started even, Kamohelo Mokotjo came close with an effort from long range that forced a save from Mulder. This was quickly followed by Ziyech shooting just wide as the home side were turning up the pressure. Feyenoord didn’t create as much as they did in the first half, but te Vrede missed the target with two headers as he continued to be a handful, despite being wasteful in front of goal.

The Feyenoord striker had two chances in quick succession around the 75 minute mark, the first effort went fractions wide, and the second needed to be saved by Marsman after good work to create the chance by Jens Toornstra.

There were a lot of late chances with te Vrede forced a save with his head, the forward had lots of chances today, but couldn’t make one of them count. This was quickly followed by a chance for the home side as Ziyech’s shot from range was saved by Mulder, the midfielder will turn out to be a great signing for Twente, he looked very good today and created lots of problems for Feyenoord.

Elvis Manu produced an excellent bit of skill to put in a cross for Jordy Clasie who headed fractions wide, it looked for a moment like the skipper would score the winner for the away side. Feyenoord nearly nicked at with the last kick of the game as Elvis Manu headed past Marsman, but it was scrambled out by the defenders. The draw was a little unfair on Feyenoord who were the better team. However they lacked composure in the final third, especially te Vrede who had plenty of opportunities to score, but failed to find a way past Marsman, who was excellent all match. There were lots of positives for the side that finished second last season and it looks like they will continue to improve in years to come.

TEAMS

TWENTE: Marsman, Martina, Lachman (Breukers 46), Bengtsson, Koppers, Mokotjo, Ebecilio, Ziyech, Mokhtar (Eghan 69), Castaignos, Kusk (Ould-Chikh 79).

SUBS NOT USED: Stevens, Schilder, Borven, Andersen.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Martina 33, Ebecilio 67.

FEYENOORD: Mulder, Wilkshire, Van Beek, Mathijsen, Nelom, Clasie (Karsdorp 90), Immers (Toornstra 46), Vilhena, Schaken (Manu 72), Te Vrede, Boëtius.

SUBS NOT USED: Hahn, Kongolo, Basaçikoglu, Kazim-Richards.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Van Beek 39.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Nick Marsman (FC Twente)