PSV escaped a costly loss of points in the Eredivisie on Sunday. Thanks to a late goal from Xavi Simons, it became 2-1 against Fortuna Sittard and second place is almost certain.
It became 0-1 early on thanks to a nice goal from Paul Gladon. Luuk de Jong restored the balance before the break, but PSV did not convince. A loss of points seemed imminent, until Simons saved his team in the final minutes with a great goal.
Thanks to the victory, PSV is almost certain of second place. The team from Eindhoven has a lead of seven points over AZ and eight over Ajax. The latter club still has to play the stopped away match against FC Groningen.
In theory, only Ajax can pass PSV. The team from Eindhoven may then take a maximum of one point in the last two duels (at home against sc Heerenveen and away against AZ) and the competitor from Amsterdam must win three times.
Nothing is at stake anymore for Fortuna Sittard. Under the Spanish coach Julio Velázquez, the Limburgers have played safe, while participation in the play-offs for European football is too ambitious.
Gladon puts Fortuna nicely at 0-1
Fortuna brutally took the lead in the Philips Stadium on Sunday against a somewhat lame PSV. Striker Gladon was already successful in the fourth minute with a nice overhead kick when the home team couldn’t get the ball away.
About twenty minutes later, Fortuna even scored for the second time, but Iñigo Córdoba’s goal fell through. The Spaniard was alert to a sloppiness by keeper Walter Benítez, but made hands.
Almost immediately afterwards, a valid goal was scored on the other side. PSV captain De Jong was free at the far post and signed with a header for his thirteenth goal of this Eredivisie season.
PSV insists, but enforces little
PSV’s pressure increased in the second half, although Van Nistelrooij’s team was often too sloppy to really create great opportunities. For a long time, the only danger came from Xavi Simons (rescue keeper Ivor Pandur) and De Jong (he shot high in the rebound).
Gradually, the dissatisfaction among the PSV public became palpable and the home team had to watch out for a sparse Limburg counter-punch. It could have just gone wrong with a header from Ivo Pinto.
It slowly but surely seemed that PSV had to settle for a disappointing point, until Simons got up, as so often this season. The Orange-international got the ball on the edge of the penalty area, lashed out mercilessly and thus caused great relief in Eindhoven.
View the results, the position and the program in the Eredivisie