NEC Nijmegen - VVV-Venlo 2-0
In the De Goffert stadium under a deluge of rain, VVV-Venlo and NEC prepared to commence the final game of the calendar year. The game started slowly for the first ten minutes, only spluttering to life in the 12th minute with a shot from Goossens which was smartly saved by Venlo keeper Wilko de Vogt.
After 15 minutes came the first foul from VVV-Venlo in the game, Rogier Molhoek being the culprit, causing Zeefuik to go down 20 metres from goal. Schone took the free kick, narrowly missing the frame of de Vogt’s goal.
Shortly after, Zeefuik squirmed through the yellow and black-clad defence. Offside or not, de Vogt expertly saved the ball that the Nijmegen striker attempted to squeeze through the keeper’s legs.
Rogier Molhoek’s replacement, Ferry de Regt, committed a foul just past the half hour mark. The resulting swerving free kick by Goossens ended up in the net: 1-0 to NEC.
After half an hour of play there was more misery for Venlo: during an attack from Nijmegen, keeper de Vogt went down in his area due to a knee injury. The experienced keeper immediately signalled that he could no longer continue. Robin Udegbe entered the fray, making his official Eredivisie debut, following his first game against SC Heerenveen in the cup.
Eight minutes into the second half saw Nuytinck receive his marching orders for a professional foul on Wildschut as the VVV player raced goal-ward. Barry Maguire took the resulting free kick which was subsequently blocked by the efforts of the keeper as well as captain Babos. This resulted in a big chance for Maya to score but the ball curled viciously past the left-hand post.
The introduction of Uche Nwofor for Rick Verbeek saw Venlo look increasingly threatening. Ahmed Musa and Yanic Wildschut both had two excellent chances, but their powerful shots did not result in goals.
In the 78th minute a handball from Barry Maguire was converted by the scorer of the first goal. Robin Udegbe allowed the ball in between his hand and the bar which led to a 2-0 lead for the home side.
The score on the scoreboard in the 78th minute remained the same. Against only ten men, Venlo was unable to convert their second half chances into goals. VVV-Venlo therefore goes into the winter break with ten points. Let’s look forward to an improved second half of the competition.
Photos by Jack Jacobs will be online shortly at.
http://sportsphotoagency.net/
VVV-VENLO – NEC Nijmegen: 25. John Goossens 1-0, 78. John Goossens 2-0. Referee: Nijhuis. Attendance:. 12,000. Red card: Bram Nuytinck (professional foul on Wildschut). Yellow cards: Niels Fleuren and Barry Maguire (VVV-Venlo) and John Goossens (NEC Nijmegen).
VVV-Venlo line-up:
Wilko de Vogt (31. Robin Udegbe), Michael Timisela, Marcel Meeuwis, Maya Yoshida, Niels Fleuren, Barry Maguire, Rick Verbeek (61; Nwofor), Rogier Molhoek (23. Ferry de Regt), Ahmed Musa and Yanic Wildschut.
NEC Nijmegen line-up; Gabor Babos, Zoltan Szelesj, Rens van Eijden, Bram Nuytinck (53; red card), Kevin Conboy, Nick van der Velden (45; Foor), Abdisalam Ibrahim, Lasse Schone, Ryan Koolwijk, John Goossens (25; 1-0. 78; 2-0), Genero Zeefuik (58; Vadocz).
