PSV had a good week and won 2 important matches. Next up is FC Utrecht, a dark horse in the battle for the national title. In this article, we look ahead to that match and opponent.
Wins against Feyenoord and Putten
PSV did a great job by beating opponent national champions Feyenoord last week. However, the first and only goal fell shortly after the kickoff, no other goals were scored for the rest of the game and PSV had a tough second half playing against only 10 men from Rotterdam. Last Thursday they booked a solid win in and against Putten, but that’s an amateur team and no strong opponent. The best thing that happened that night was the comeback of Adam Maher. He was heavily involved in all four scored goals and it’s interesting to see what will happen in Cocu’s selection because of that in the coming months.
Utrecht – PSV in the past
PSV played 102 matches against Utrecht throughout the history. PSV won 68 of them, lost 12 and drew 22. They scored 243 goals, Utrecht scored 81. PSV had their biggest victory in and against Utrecht during the season of 1989-1990, when they won with 1-7. It doesn’t look like any such result is possible today, especially against Utrecht, who is a dark horse for a top 3 end ranking this season. However, the last time Utrecht beat PSV during a competition match was in September 2012. In Februari 2014 Utrecht beat PSV for the last time, during a Cup match in Eindhoven. Which isn´t too surprising, since PSV has been kicked out from the Cup tournament very early over the last seasons in general.
Utrecht on a Roll
FC Utrecht have some great talents in their selection, combined with well experienced players. For example, Edson Braafheid is ex-Bayern Munich and Urby Emanuelson is ex-AC Milan, and both played for the Dutch national team in the past. PSV Youth Academy product Zakaria Labyad seems to have finally found his place in this team after dissapointing adventures with Sporting Lissabon and Vitesse Arnhem, and Belgian striker Cyriel Dessers has prooved to be a danger for any defense, scoring 4 goals in 5 matches already.
Head Coach Erik ten Hag has taken experience as assistant coach at FC Twente and PSV and as head coach of Go Ahead Eagles and the Bayern Munich Youth team. Assistant Coach Jean-Paul de Jong is an Utrecht-icon. All in all, together with AZ, Vitesse and maybe Heerenveen, this team is one aiming to storm the traditional top 3 of Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV. And we know what happened in Heerenveen, two weeks ago…
Lozano ready for his comeback
Something we also still remember from the horrorshow in Heerenveen was the red card for Hirving Lozano. After failing to try to undo the suspension by higher appeal, ‘El Chucky’ took his punishment and let the matches against Feyenoord and Putten pass by. Even though PSV won both matches, everyone in Eindhoven will be happy to see the young Mexican back o on the pitch and bring the necessary excitement the team often lacks.
For Bart Ramselaar this match is a sort of homecoming, being a product of FC Utrecht’s Youth Academy. In Eindhoven he’s not always sure of a place in the basic eleven, so he surely wants to show everyone he made the right decision leaving Utrecht and show he became a better player. Most importantly, PSV simply has to win to stay in the race for the national title. The question is what Phillip Cocu will do now that Luuk de Jong (see photo) is injured and Adam Maher paid his trust back with playing such in important role last week. He himself has said to look forward to ‘challenging matches like these’.
Match Information
Date: 24 September 2017
Time: 12:30h
Location: Stadion Galgenwaard, Utrecht
Referee: Serdan Gözübüyük
Broadcast: Fox Sports Eredivisie
Tickets: Through this link (Club Card needed)
For Eindhoven News: Joey
