PSV recovers after weak first half in Utrecht

PSV played another game with two faces on Saturday. Under the watchful eye of former Head of Youth Training Jelle Goes, now HJO of FC Utrecht, a poor first half was followed by a much better second half, in which the team recovered well and eventually managed to extend the score to a spacious 0-5.

Although PSV had already taken a comfortable 0-2 lead at halftime through an own goal and a goal by Ilyas, that score disguised the game on display. PSV played weak and uninspired and it was only thanks to goalkeeper Jules that Utrecht did not come alongside before halftime. First he intervened excellently when the fast Utrecht striker appeared in front of him alone, and halfway through the first half he had to intervene after captain Mylian as the last defender nonchalantly lost the ball, allowing another attacker to go after him alone. Most typical of PSV's lackluster play was how Naïm squandered the opportunity he was given when the Utrecht goalkeeper mishandled the ball, putting the midfielder face to face. Although he had all the time to choose a corner he gave the goalkeeper a chance to work his effort wide. Nevertheless, the best goal of the afternoon fell in the first half. In the ^34th minute Milan passed the ball well to the incoming Ilyas, who shot the ball hard against the ropes, 0-2.

After a big wake-up call at halftime, a completely different team appeared on the pitch in the second half, just like last week. With commitment and inspiration, PSV now let the ball circulate, duels were won, chances were created and three goals were scored. In the 50th minute, Ilyas controlled a corner after receiving the ball on a silver platter from the out defending goalkeeper. Fifteen minutes later Milan was the first to tap the ball in when the Utrecht goalkeeper failed to deal with a good long distance shot by Mo, and a few minutes before the end the same Milan made it 0-5 after a good attack. Next Saturday O16 plays the away match against FC Volendam at 14:00 hrs.

Setup:
Jules Janssen; D'Leanu Arts ('68 Deveron Fonville) - Jenson Seelt - Mylian Jimenez (c) - Nawaaz Landfeld ('68 Jesse Giebels); Naïm Matoug - Cel Teunen - Dylan Hopman ('Joep Kluskens); Mo Nassoh - Milan van de Riet - Ilyas Bougafer ('52 Dyon Dorenbosch).