VVV-Venlo - Feyenoord 2-1
At their own Seacon Stadium - De Koel -, VVV-Venlo emerged successfully from their winter break: after an impressive one minute silence in memory of curate Leo Brueren’s death, Feyenoord were beaten. Coach Ton Lokhoff’s team showed resilience: trailing by 0-1after 13 minutes, they managed to change the score into a 2-1 victory.
The home side started the game against the visitors with all four newcomers in the starting line-up. Ismo Vorstermans and Jeffrey Leiwakabessy were positioned in the defence, while Danny Holla and Steven Berghuis had been allocated positions in midfield and the attack. Twelve minutes into the first half, the hosts had a lucky escape when a great cross pass by Ron Vlaar went over the defence to where Otman Bakkal was waiting. However, his strike was stopped by goal keeper Dennis Gentenaar.
One minute later, however, Feyenoord did score. A strongly curling free kick completely confused Maya Yoshida. Feyenoord captain Vlaar hit the ball in such a way that it was child’s play for Bruno Martins Indi to tap in the 0-1.
The remarkable thing was that VVV-Venlo did not really get into any further difficulty against the Rotterdam side after that. The greatest threat from the home side came from corners. Halfway through the first 45, for instance, when a strike from Danny Holla was only just blocked by Jordy Clasie. Moments later, Kelvin Leerdam could heave a sigh of relief when he almost kicked the ball into his own goal.
Ten minutes from half-time, Holla came very close to a goal. His free kick from 20 metres hammered the crossbar. VVV-Venlo showed resilience and within a few minutes made an unbelievable comeback, from being 1-0 down to a 2-1 lead. Timisela sent Uche Nwofor away on the right and his hard ball in was deflected in such a way that it ended up in front of Bryan Linssen, whose half-volley produced the equaliser: 1-1. The second goal was also scored via a volley. After a corner, Nwofor flicked the ball on to Vorstermans. The defender was given the time to control the ball in the crowded penalty area and convert from close range: 2-1.
After 60 minutes, Anass Achahbar – sick team top scorer and cult hero John Guidetti’s substitute – should have put Feyenoord level. Ruben Schaken delivered the ball perfectly to him, but Achahbar’s free header went wide of the Venlo goal. Twenty minutes from the end, VVV-Venlo also had a good opportunity. Nutmegging Vlaar, Linssen delivered to striker Nwofor. The latter’s shot caused havoc in the Feyenoord defence and in the rebound Steven Berghuis came close to scoring.
In the remaining minutes, Feyenoord tried to step up the pressure, but the home side easily kept their footing. With this 2-1 victory, therefore, VVV-Venlo emerged successfully from the winter break. A victory they really needed after relegation rivals Excelsior had already won their game on Saturday. This massive three pointer enables VVV-Venlo to hand their bottom position back to them.
Next week’s fixture for coach Ton Lokhoff’s side is away against RKC Waalwijk on Sunday.
Sunday 22 January 2012
VVV-VENLO 2 - 1 FEYENOORD
13. Bruno Martins Indi 0-1, 40. Bryan Linssen 1-1, 44. Ismo Vorstermans 2-1. Referee: Makkelie. Crowd attendence: 8000. Booked: Marcel Meeuwis (VVV-Venlo), Mats Van Huijgevoort en Erwin Mulders (Feyenoord).
VVV-Venlo line-up:
Dennis Gentenaar; Michael Timisela (90. Ferry de Regt), Ismo Vorstermans, Maya Yoshida, Jeffrey Leiwakabessy (77. Niels Fleuren); Barry Maguire, Danny Holla, Marcel Meeuwis; Steven Berghuis, Uche Nwofor and Bryan Linssen (80. Yanic Wildschut).
Feyenoord line-up:
Erwin Mulder; Kelvin Leerdam (83. Tony Vilhena), Ron Vlaar, Bruno Martins Indi, Mats van Huijgevoort (46. Gill Swerts), Kamohelo Mokotjo, Otman Bakkal, Jordy Clasie; Jerson Cabral (66. Sekou Cissé), Anass Achahbar and Ruben Schaken.
