PSV Women will host HERA United at Stadion De Herdgang on Sunday afternoon for a first in the Eurojackpot Women's Eredivisie. It is the very first meeting between the two teams, with HERA United making its debut at the highest level this season.
PSV Women opened the league with two narrow victories: 1-0 against Excelsior Rotterdam and 1-2 at FC Utrecht. Riola Xhemaili was the standout in the first weeks: the attacker accounted for all three league goals. Nina Nijstad also asserted herself with two goals and as many assists in all competitions. The midfielder speaks of a shaky start to the season, but emphasizes that they should go for the three points on Sunday with fresh and dominant play.
Changeable and effective
Nina Nijstad looks back on a changeable start. "We lost the first game in Europe against Manchester United, which was of course very unfortunate. But as a team we handled it well afterwards. The next European games we just had to and wanted to get through, and so far we have succeeded. In the league the first two games were difficult: Excelsior was very sluggish and defensively strong. That made it hard for us to get through. Against FC Utrecht we also had to work hard, but in the end we got six points and that is the most important thing."
Narrow wins
According to the midfielder, the narrow victories are mainly explained by the resistance and the number of opponents. "Excelsior was very good defensively, we had trouble getting through them. And against FC Utrecht, of course, we already had two tough European matches behind us. The 'remontada' in midweek demanded everything from us, and on Sunday you noticed that. Falling behind at half-time against FC Utrecht was the moment that the switch had to be turned, and fortunately we still stepped up."
No underestimation
Next weekend a first meeting with HERA United awaits. Many players come from Telstar, which finished last season in penultimate place. Still, Nina does not want to draw any easy conclusions. "We don't know very much about this opponent yet, so we certainly shouldn't underestimate them. I do expect them to take certain things from Telstar in terms of style of play. For us it is important to go into the match fresh and with better football. We are playing at home and must go convincingly for the three points."
HERA United
The new Amsterdam club is unique in the Netherlands: HERA United is the first professional organization to focus entirely on women's football. In doing so, it follows the lead of international examples such as London City Lionesses in England and Angel City FC in the United States. HERA played its first match in a draw (2-2 against AZ), but lost last weekend to PEC Zwolle (2-3).
The match is part of the switching channel on ESPN 1 and can be seen in full on ESPN Extra.