The Rotterdammers’ hopes of lifting the title this term suffered a huge blow as Jan Wouters’ men hit back in the second-half to salvage a point.
On Sunday, March 11, FC Utrecht recorded a hard fought 1-1 stalemate against Feyenoord Rotterdam at De Kuip Stadion in week-25 of Dutch top flight football.
The Rotterdammers commenced proceedings in front of their home crowd brightly and took the lead through the first attack in the sixth minute. Jordy Clasie’s long range effort crashed off the post, but the rebound fell straight to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Otman-Bakkal-c28851, who had the
easiest of tap-ins to make it 1-0.
The Rotterdam giants continued to mount pressure on the visiting side, but failed to create any real goalscoring opportunity of note. Moments before the half-time break, Bakkal could have doubled his side’s advantage, but he headed Jerson Cabral’s cross
wide of the target.
After the half-time interval, the Stadiumclub continued to impress with their good movement upfront. In the 56th minute, Ruben Schaken’s cross in the box found Bakkal, but the midfielder failed to hit the target yet again.
The Rotterdammers' authority on the pitch diminished as the match progressed, while the Utreg started to find their rhythm. The home side's goalkeeper, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Erwin-Mulder-c12875, made a good save to deny Johan Martensson’s effort from going into the back of the net when
he tried his luck from the edge of the box.
However, the visiting side did score the equaliser in the 59th minute, when substitute Cedric van der Gun added his name to the score-sheet moments after coming on the pitch to replace Rodney Sneijder.
The home side could have restored their one-goal lead after creating few chances. However, Schaken fired wide of the target, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cabral-c8232 failed to trouble the Utreg goalkeeper and Nelom Miquel’s effort from 20 yards sailed over the crossbar, much to Ronald Koeman's
dismay.
Jan Wouters’ men were clearly playing with a simple plan – soak up the pressure and counter-attack. Their strategy almost rewarded them, with Clasie clearing Martensson’s header off the line.
Miquel received his marching orders following his second bookable offence in the 77th minute. However, the Utreg failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage in the remaining action of the match. When the referee blew the final whistle, the
score-line read 1-1 with both sides sharing the spoils.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Utrecht-c39237 dropped down to 15th spot, a mere two points clear of the danger zone.
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