PSV were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with Feyenoord in the Philips Stadion on Super Sunday afternoon. Eric Botteghin headed home the opening goal for Feyenoord on 34 minutes, while Cody Gakpo netted an equaliser two minutes after the restart.
Eric Botteghin heads home opening goal
PSV interim head coach Ernest Faber named an unchanged side after guiding his team to three consecutive victories. Both sides started with attacking intentions and had their moments in front of goal. The first chance of the game fell to Feyenoord striker Robert Bozenik, who put the ball wide from close range. PSV captain Denzel Dumfries sprinted down the right flank but skewed his effort wide. PSV broke with a two-on-one but Gakpo’s pass lacked accuracy. Both teams then patiently passed the ball around, looking to open up spaces in the opposing team’s defences. The deadlock was broken on 34 minutes with the visitors scoring a goal from a set-piece. Feyenoord won a corner and centre back Eric Botteghin rose high above his marker to head home the opening goal: 0-1.
Gakpo scores equaliser two minutes after the restart
It was all square again two minutes into the second half. Jorrit Hendrix found Ryan Thomas who laid the ball into the feet of Cody Gakpo. The PSV forward unleashed a vicious shot into the roof the net, taking his goal scoring tally for the season to seven: 1-1. PSV wanted more and aggressively closed the Feyenoord players down. Feyenoord defender Tyrell Malacia was shown a yellow card for a foul on Mohammed Ihattaren on the bye-line. Sam Lammers superbly controlled the ball before firing on target but Feyenoord keeper Justin Bijlow made a fine save to deny him. At the other end, Lars Unnerstall was called into action when he went down to parry a shot from Steven Berghuis as Feyenoord came back into the game. The PSV custodian pulled off another piece of goalkeeping heroics, producing an incredible save to thwart Robert Bozenik. The Feyenoord striker had the goal at his mercy, but Unnerstall made a reflex save and gathered the ball after it had hit the inside of the post. PSV survived another scary moment when the VAR concluded that Dumfries had not handled the ball. Bruma replaced Gakpo on 82 minutes. Sam Lammers sent a free header from Ihattaren’s free kick wide of the post. Lammers the made way for Kostas Mitroglou and Ritsu Doan came on for Ihattaren as PSV in vain looked to score a winning goal in the closing stages. PSV are still fourth in the table with 46 points from 25 games. They will be back in league action next Sunday, when they face FC Groningen in an away game.