FC Twente celebrated a private party in the empty Grolsch Veste on Saturday evening. The Enschede players defeated Vitesse, which played with one man less in the entire second half, in a direct confrontation with large numbers: 3-0. With that, Twente convincingly repulsed the attack in fourth place.
Ron Jans’ team also won its third game after the winter break, remained unbeaten for the tenth time in a row and has already collected just as many points as last season: 41. No other team has taken as many in the last two months. points as FC Twente. These are special figures for the stable team from Enschede, which also gave little away on Saturday evening and was again fatal in punishing the opponents’ mistakes. After the 4-1 win in Arnhem earlier this season, it now became 3-0.
Unexpected lead
In the first fifteen minutes it didn’t look like FC Twente would have such a simple evening against their direct competitor. The home team had a hard time in the opening phase with the better footballing Vitesse. The first big chance of the match was also for the visitors after fourteen minutes of play, but only for goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall did Matus Bero aim wide.
Four minutes later FC Twente took the lead out of nowhere. Robin Pröpper sent the released Michel Vlap into the depths and his cross was run into the goal by Jesse Bosch, who replaced the slightly injured Manfred Ugalde: 1-0.
Huge opportunity
Vitesse was visibly shaken by that surprising deficit, because from that moment on, the team suffered from loss of possession and misunderstandings. Just before the break, things went hopelessly wrong for the Arnhem team twice. First, Riechedly Bazoer slipped on the slippery field, allowing Dimitrios Limnios to continue on goalkeeper Jeroen Houwen. The Greek rounded the goalie, saw that he had ended up in a difficult corner, after which he gave the ball to Ricky van Wolsfwinkel. The striker needed just a little too much time, allowing a defender to make a save.
crazy blunder
A minute before half time, Van Wolfswinkel got his revenge from the penalty spot. FC Twente received that penalty after a crazy blunder by keeper Houwen. The goalie let the ball fall out of his hands when throwing it out, tried to recover it under pressure from Van Wolsfwinkel, but in the meantime the ball had already reached Limnios. His shot was knocked out of the goal on the line by defender Jacob Rasmussen. The result: a red card for Vitesse and a penalty for FC Twente. From eleven meters, the top scorer this season is a certainty. He also scored his sixth penalty in this competition flawlessly: 2-0.
Quick decision
With eleven against ten and a 2-0 lead in their pocket, FC Twente played a won game. The last bit of doubt disappeared after six minutes in the second half. Gijs Smal gave a deep ball to Van Wolfswinkel, who actually had no chance in the duel with Danilho Doekhi. But the Vitesse captain gave FC Twente’s top scorer the space to score: 3-0. It was already his eleventh goal of the season for Van Wolfswinkel, as a result of which he moves further and further in the top scorer classification of the Eredivisie.
Most notable in the remainder of the match was Vaclav Cerny’s substitution, who went on to play as the most attacking midfielder. The Czech also had a good chance, but his attempt went wide. FC Twente – where Joshua Brenet made his debut just before time – had a great time in that final phase. Unfortunately, there was no one in the stadium to celebrate the party with the players.
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