VVV-Venlo - FC Groningen
On Saturday VVV-Venlo added to its collection of draws. At home against FC Groningen there was no sweet taste of victory. After twenty minutes both teams has scored twice and that was the final result on the scoreboard.
As suggested by the line up at the last training session, Jan van Dijk made some changes to his team. Frank van Kouwen and Achmed Ahahaoui took the places of Sjors Verdellen and Diogo Viana. The home crowd was treated to a goal after just five minutes with Keisuke Honda converting his free kick into a sweeping shot that curled round the wall and into the corner of the net: 1-0.
Ten minutes later VVV was one goal down. Frank van Kouwen lost possession and FC Groningen reacted quickly on the right flank. Goran Lovre passed to Pedersen who grabbed the chance to equalise: 1-1. Still reeling from the shock, VVV-Venlo had to endure another set-back. Andreas Granqvist won a duel in the air with Ken Leemans and his header beat Dennis Gentenaar: 1-2.
After twenty minutes the score was on an even keel again. Sandro Calabro received a ball from Patrick Paauwe and shot at the opponents’ goal. Keeper Luciano just managed to deflect the ball with his fingertips. From the resulting corner Achmed Ahahaoui sent the shot to Calabro whose header signalled 2-2. An exciting first twenty minutes of play with the defence on both sides looking shaky.
Both teams had another few chances at goal in the rest of the first half. Gentenaar had to work hard to keep out a shot from Pedersen. In the other half Calabro had a good chance but the ball was too short. Nicklas Pedersen had another fine opening but his ball sailed past the goalmouth.
After half time FC Groningen seized the initiative and VVV-Venlo had a lucky escape when a completely undefended Granqvist headed the ball into Gentenaar’s arms instead of the net. Later on in the half Gentenaar’s quick reactions saved his team again by going all out to save a shot from FC Groningen captain Koen van de Laak.
VVV-Venlo was unable to create any more chances. During the second half Jan van Dijk changed his tactics a little, but with no results. In last minute he substituted Van Kouwen for Sjors Verdellen, to ensure the score stayed even. With success – so VVV-Venlo gained another point. This was the fourth time in a row that VVV-Venlo has drawn a game – which beats the existing club record that stood at three successive draws.
Next week sees an away fixture against NEC Nijmegen, with a Saturday evening kick off at 18.45 hrs.
Saturday 22 August 2009
VVV-VENLO – FC
5. Keisuke Honda 1-0, 13. Nicklas Pedersen 1-1, 15. Andreas Granqvist 1-2, 20. Sandro Calabro 2-2. Match official: Van Meenen. Crowd attendance: 7280.
Squad VVV-Venlo:
Dennis Gentenaar; Michael Timisela, Frank van Kouwen (79. Sjors Verdellen), Patrick Paauwe, Niels Fleuren; Ken Leemans, Keisuke Honda, Adil Auassar; Ruben Schaken (66. Kevin van Dessel), Sandro Calabro (87. Diogo Viana) and Achmed Ahahaoui.
Squad FC Groningen:
Luciano; Sepp de Roover, Gibril Sankoh, Andreas Granqvist, Fredrik Stenman; Koen van de Laak, Oluwafemi Ajilore, Goran Lovre, Mike Zonneveld; Nicklas Pedersen (89. Danny Menting) and Tim Matavz (59. Serhat Koç).
