After a poor start to the season, relegation candidates Heracles Almelo hosted league-leaders PSV Eindhoven in their fixture today. Despite a superb defensive performance, Heracles lost the game to a Rekik goal in stoppage time.

The first chance of the game fell to De Jong in the 4th minute, but the Heracles defence dealt with the danger, blocking the front-man’s shot well. Within the first fifteen minutes of the game, PSV utterly dominated the possession of the ball, but Heracles did well to defend against this constant pressure. As the game went on, Heracles grew in confidence and started creating a few half-chances of their own. The next real chance of the game fell to Heracles through Cziommer, but he dragged his shot wide from the edge of the box. Unbelievably, a ferret sprang onto the pitch in the 19th minute, halting the game for a few moments time to the delight of the supporters. Against all the odds, Heracles took the lead. A costless kick from 30-metres was rocketed towards goal by Tannane and spilt by the PSV keeper. As a result of this slight mistake, Linssen could run in and knock in the rebound. PSV turned on the heat, but Maher’s effort was well prevented by Telgenkamp in the 30th minute. Bel Hassani’s swerving effort didn’t have enough dip to trouble Zoet, but it illustrated the lapses in PSV’s defence in the first 35 minutes of the game. After a spectacular run, Memphis Depay only lacked the composure to put PSV level in the 37th minute. Heracles’ lead didn’t last long, as Luuk De Jong slotted home his eighth of the season to Telgenkamp’s near post after Depay’s smart through ball on the stroke of half time. With the sides entering halftime with a goal apiece, the concluding result was hard to predict.

The first real chance of the second half fell to Linssen for Heracles after a Cziommer cross, but he failed to keep his wild effort on target. Few chances fell to either side in the opening stages of the first half, as the ball was mainly contested for in the centre of the park which suited Heracles more than the visiting side. The travelling PSV fans had something to cheer about in the 67th minute, as Memphis Depay wonderfully scooped the ball through the legs of the oncoming Heracles defender; sadly, the move broke down. The majority of the second half saw Heracles perched on the edge of their box, preventing the league-leaders from creating any clear opportunities. Despite this relentless defending from the home side, they couldn’t prevent Depay chipping the ball towards De Jong. Fortunately for Heracles, the striker’s volley clashed against the crossbar and flew well away from Telgenkamp’s goal. Veldmate saved his side from going 2-1 down, as he cleared what would be an own goal off the line. Rekik had the next chance of the game at the far post, but his soft header was flapped away by the Heracles keeper. Depay came close once more for PSV, but he dragged his shot just wide after an inspired, pacey run in the 85th minute. Maher’s effort in the dying moments of the game was superbly saved by Telgenkamp and PSV could do very little with the resulting corner. In the last minute of the game, there was heartbreak for Heracles once again in what has been an agonising season. A scrappy goal was scored by Rekik after the ball was scrambled around the edge of the 6-yard-box. It was Rekik’s first goal in over a year for PSV. Despite their best efforts in the closing stages, Heracles couldn’t produce any major chances and PSV ran away with all 3 points.

As you could tell from PSV’s tame celebrations at the end of the match, they knew that they had been ran close to losing 2 valuable points in their ongoing title race. However, they did take all 3 points from the game, leaving them still perched at the top of the league table.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Ryan Johnson
Manchester United fan and Eredivisie enthusiast. Aspiring sports journalist.