VideoNAC midfielder Thom Haye grabbed, completely unnecessarily, the leading role in the cup match with FC Utrecht tonight in Breda: 3-2. Conversion seemed like a formality for Utrecht, but impurity in the front and carelessness in the back killed René Hake’s team. This increases the pressure on ambitious Utrecht residents again.
,,It’s unbelievable what happened here tonight,” said FC Utrecht captain Willem Jansen shortly after the game at ESPN. ,,They shoot on target three times in the second half and all three go in. I am really ready. This is really a big downer.”
It was Thom Haye’s evening in Breda. The 26-year-old midfielder from Amsterdam took NAC by the hand in the second half with two beautiful goals and the assist for the winning goal of the cold substitute Vieri Kotzebue (19) in the 92nd minute. ,,It was great to give that assist with the outside right in the last minute, because I had little appetite for extra time to be honest,” said Haye, who shot a free kick in the corner in the 55th minute and fifteen minutes later. also made it 2-1 with a shot that Maarten Paes had no good answer for.In the 86th minute substitute Anastasios Douvikas made it 2-2 on behalf of FC Utrecht, but NAC went through in the cup due to the late goal. admired by his beautiful free kick. ,,I was collecting a bit with that ball, about four meters yes. It is extra nice that he still hits the bar and only then falls in. the game until that free kick, but after that everything went well.”
Haye has been involved in 14 goals in the last 12 games. He now stands on seven goals and eight assists in 20 games this season. Last season he did not score for NAC, which lost to NEC in the final of the play-offs and then started the season dramatically in the Kitchen Champion Division.
Surprise
Nobody will have had the feeling after about 54 minutes that there was even a chance that FC Utrecht would be surprised by NAC. Utrecht dominated the game in Breda, was rightly ahead, also missed a penalty. Actually, it was waiting for a bigger victory. But that was not counting NAC midfielder Thom Haye, who worked a fabulous free kick behind goalkeeper Maarten Paes and even shot his team to victory just twenty minutes before the end.
An unreal scenario for those who had only watched the stage of the match for Haye’s goals. FC Utrecht played, completely in line with the way of thinking of trainer René Hake, with a fairly strong line-up. In the cup tournament he sees no room to play with a full B-team, not even in the first round against SteDoCo (0-5). The most striking was the starting spot of Adrián Dalmau, who kicked off for the first time in an official game since August 21, away from FC Groningen (0-0).
An important moment for the Spaniard, who rarely plays and is headed for a winter departure with his contract expiring next summer. In recent weeks he has increasingly played a role as a substitute and against NAC there was even a basic place for him. But to say that he took his chance, no, not that. In the opening phase, he was close to scoring with a header. Moments later, in a phase that Utrecht was already insisting more and more, he shot a penalty kick weakly. The excellent goalkeeper NAC goalie Nick Olij was able to save easily.
That would turn out to be a crucial moment later on. Just like against Heracles Almelo (1-0) and Go Ahead Eagles (0-0), it took Utrecht so much effort to break a lesser opponent. Go Ahead Eagles even held their ground last weekend, 0-0, which increased the murmuring around the club. Of course, this also has to do with the lesser phase that Utrecht is in, now that the club has gradually relinquished the spacious fourth place.
Partly for this reason, the result against NAC was so important. And the club from Breda actually had little to say against Utrecht for a long time, which did not take the game lightly. It was also obvious at NAC that the club is only ninth in the Kitchen Champion Division. Van Jong Utrecht (1-1) was also not won in the Rat Verlegh Stadium.
Mike van der Hoorn headed Utrecht ahead and that seemed to be the prelude to a much bigger victory. But that was not counted on Haye, one of the few players in the Breda selection who has qualities of the outside class. Despite the fact that NAC created almost nothing, he struck twice fatally, on rare occasions when Utrecht dropped defensively. After a red card from Van der Hoorn, substitute Anastasios Douvikas seemed to provide extra time, but NAC struck again in injury time via Vieiri Kotzebue. In doing so, he ensured a cup stunt that strongly increases the pressure on Utrecht and Hake and which again means a serious blow to the ambitions of the club.
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