'70 0-1
'17 0-2
'24 0-3
'40(+4) 1-3
'51 2-3
'77 3-3

PSV played a game with 2 different faces against Ajax on Saturday at the Herdgang. The guests from Amsterdam dominated the first half and dealt a psychological blow by going into halftime with a 1-3 lead. However, Kristof Aelbrecht's team showed resilience and managed to turn the deficit to 3-3 in the 2nd half.

PSV was outclassed in the first half by Ajax, which had a field advantage with good positional play and use of individual qualities and also managed to express this in goals. The Amsterdammers scored the 0-1 as early as the '7th minute, taking advantage of stupid ball loss in the build-up of the Eindhoven defense. With 2 fine goals in the '17th and the '24th minute, PSV therefore faced a seemingly unbridgeable deficit within half an hour. Although there were a number of good chances for PSV in return - for example, midfielder Sam Lammers shot the ball too softly when he was able to shoot at an empty goal from distance after the Ajax goalkeeper had outrun a deep ball - we had to wait until well into injury time for the important tying goal, when Joey Konings headed in the 1-3 from a Sam Lammers corner high above everyone.

That Ajax dominated the first half was not only its own merit, but partly the result of PSV's weak performance. Apart from individual mistakes, general agreements and individual tasks were not carried out, which played into Ajax's hands. At halftime, coach Kristof Aelbrecht therefore once again stressed to the players the need to fulfill them, especially against Ajax. The 2nd half therefore saw a completely different face, with PSV not only preventing Ajax from scoring despite a number of good opportunities for the Amsterdammers (including a ball-for-or-behind-the-line situation), but also managing to create a number of good chances themselves and eventually level the score. In the 51st minute, Joey Konings tapped in his second of the game at the 1st post after a cross from Jasper de Jonge, 2-3. And while Sam Lammers shot the ball at the post after a nice deep pass from Tom Scheepers, he rounded off the game 3 minutes before the final whistle with a lob over the outflowing Amsterdam goalkeeper when Matthias Verreth sent him alone into the penalty area with a fine pass.

A very instructive game for the B2, and a compliment for the way the team played their way back into the game after falling behind 0-3.



Mike van de Meulenhof; Roel van Linschoten ('45 Reno Kochanowski) - Kaan Tanriver - Tom Scheepers © - Lassane Faye; Sam Lammers - Jasper de Jonge - Roy Gielen ('61 Elmo Hertogh); Youandi Renfurm - Matthias Verreth -Joey Konings.

On the bench not substituted: Stef Tissen; Juul Respen; Colin Bruisten; Vincent Boldt.