SUNDAY 31ST AUGUST
PSV 2 – 0 VITESSE
Luuk de Jong grabs his first goal for PSV as he helps the Eindhoven side to a somewhat flattering 2-0 win against a Vitesse side who will be pleased with some aspects of their performance reports Ryan O’Grady.
PSV came into this game off the back of a brilliant 3-1 win away at Ajax that shocked the Amsterdam Arena crowd. Vitesse however were coming into this game having lost 2-1 to PEC Zwolle despite controlling large parts of the game. PSV made one change to the side for today’s game, new loan signing from Valencia, Andres Guardado replaced Jorrit Hendrix in midfield.
The first 40 minutes of this game belonged to Vitesse who from the get go pressed the PSV players high up the pitch. In only the second minute Guardado was dispossessed by Traoré on the edge of the box but the on-loan Chelsea midfielder could only get off a weak effort that was easily saved by Zoet.
After the first 15 minutes Vitesse already had 67% possession. Vitesse nearly wasted their early dominance when in the 15th minute a long ball was played forward that should’ve been easily dealt with by the Vitesse defence but instead Diks seemed to be at a loss as to what to do with the ball and decided to touch it behind for a corner without realising Depay was behind him but luckily Depay couldn’t capitalise.
Although Vitesse were the better team for most of the first half they rarely created any chances with Traoré having a couple that were easily saved and Vejinovic with a long range effort that was miles above the crossbar. Then in the last 5 minutes of the first half Vitesse appeared to let up slightly on their pressing game and PSV came into the game.
Firstly some good inter-play down the right wing resulted in Maher knocking the ball past Kashia on the edge of the box and seemingly through on goal but the central defender recovered well and managed to clear. Then Diks again couldn’t cope with a long ball and his poor touch fell to Narsingh who cut inside and unleashed a shot that was well saved by Velthuizen in the Vitesse net.
The first minute and a half of the second half started well for Vitesse before a quick counter attack by PSV resulted in a goal. Luuk De Jong picked the ball up around thirty yards out and ran towards goal but overran the ball, however the clearance by the Vitesse defence ricocheted off another defender and the ball fell to Narsingh who poked it towards De Jong and he side footed the ball into the corner of the net.
PSV then started a period of dominance that didn’t result in many chances. In the 61st minute Narsingh received the ball inside the box in a dangerous position but over ran the ball and it was easily cleared. During this period of dominance Vitesse did have one chance, Traoré tricked his way past two PSV players and ran into the box but was unable to get enough power behind his shot that was easily collected by Zoet.
In the 70th minute Depay crossed to Maher who mishit the ball but fortunately it landed to Narsingh although he could only hit the side netting. Vitesse came back into the game just after this chance. Substitute Achenteh was allowed to run towards the corner of the box before unleashing a powerful drive that went out for a corner after smacking the post. Then a cross came in from the left hand side of the box that was pushed away by Zoet straight to Labyad on the edge of the box whose shot was well saved by again by Zoet and ricocheted of Dauda’s head to go out for a goal kick. PSV went down the other end and Depay was allowed to come inside and release a shot but it went about two yards wide.
This was followed up in the 89th minute when substitute Jozefzoon played a lovely through ball to de Jong in the box and he should have scored from close range but his shot was well saved by Velthuizen, who was Vitesse’s man of the match. Velthuizen could do nothing about the next effort from PSV. Kashia slid for the ball about 40 yards out and completely missed it allowing Depay to run onto the ball and he tried to round the keeper but Velthuizen got a touch on it. Unfortunately for him the touch fell straight to Adam Maher who blasted it in from the edge of the box. To round the game off Depay had a chance at the very end but he slipped at the vital moment.
TEAMS
PSV: Zoet, Brenet, Rekik, Bruma, Willems (Arias 69), Maher, Guardado (Hiljemark 75), Wijnaldum, Narsingh (Jozefzoon 83), De Jong, Depay
SUBS NOT USED: Pasveer, Locadia, Ritzmaier, Hendrix.
GOALS: De Jong 48, Maher 90+1.
BOOKINGS: Maher 34, Guardado 73, Hiljemark 85.
VITESSE: Velthuizen, Diks, Kashia, Van der Heijden, Kruiswijk (Achenteh 60), Vejinovic, Pröpper, Leerdam, Labyad, Qazaishvili (Dauda 60), Traoré (Olinyk 70).
SUBS NOT USED: Room, Mori, McEachran, Ibarra.
GOALS: None.
BOOKINGS: Kruiswijk 24.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Jeroen Zoet (PSV)
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