As temperatures have plummeted, so have Feyenoord’s title chances. Two weeks after losing to Go Ahead Eagles, they were beaten 4-2 by another member of the Eredivisie’s upwardly-mobile middle class in NEC Nijmegen, a late brace from substitute Kento Shiogai making the difference on a frigid afternoon in Rotterdam. The result leaves Feyenoord six points behind league leaders PSV, and without a win in three matches ahead of Thursday’s crunch Europa League fixture against Celtic.
For the jubilant fans in the packed away end, the victory was the perfect cap to a week of celebrating NEC’s 125th birthday. Rarely in their history have NEC scented the rarified air of fourth in the table, a position they ascended to with the win. Yet this was in no way a smash and grab, as Dick Schreuder’s team dominated the final half an hour to turn around a 2-1 deficit amidst the icy gusts and freezing drizzle.
Japan national team manager Hajime Moriyasu will have been watching with interest, as four Japanese internationals featured in the starting lineups. Tsuyoshi Watanabe and Ayase Ueda, the Eredivisie’s leading scorer, started for Feyenoord, with Kodai Sano and Koki Ogawa in the NEC eleven. Their compatriot Shiogai, an under-23 international, began the game on the bench.
Schreuder had pledged that NEC would play its usual brand of attacking football in De Kuip, and they kicked off with only three defenders on the pitch, though midfielder Darko Nejašmić did occasionally drop into the back line. It was Feyenoord, however, who controlled the game in its opening stages and created chances to score. Left winger Leo Sauer made frequent infield runs, dragging his marker Eli Dasa with him and giving left back Gijs Smal room to attack. This manoeuvre produced a chance just under twenty minutes in, as Smal dribbled into the box before ballooning a shot into the stands. Shortly thereafter it was Sauer’s turn to shoot after receiving a pass from Luciano Valente, fresh off his debut for the Dutch national team, but the Slovak’s effort was right at Gonzalo Crettaz in the NEC goal.
Feyenoord were even closer on the half-hour, as Anis Hadj Moussa prodded a cross across the face of goal which Sem Steijn was inches short of reaching for a tap-in. When the opening goal did arrive, it was at the other end. NEC won possession in midfield and worked the ball to Tjaronn Chery, whose cross bounced off Steijn to former Feyenoorder Bryan Linssen, who tucked home. It was the first occasion that the visitors had gotten men into the penalty area, and yet they led.
The lead didn’t last long. Feyenoord continued to besiege the penalty area, NEC manning the defensive ramparts. Watanabe nearly equalized with a header that clanged off the crossbar, before Sauer converted Steijn’s cross to level the game with the final touch of the first half. It was a big moment for Sauer, a first goal of the campaign for the youngster who has struggled to fill Igor Paixão’s shoes on the left flank, and gave Feyenoord a platform to build on after the break.
Feyenoord started the second half with intent, and were rewarded after 55 minutes. The creative maestro Hadj Moussa was the architect of the goal; stationed on the right touchline, his infield pass found Bart Nieuwkoop’s underlapping run, the right back slipping the ball past Crettaz at his near post to put the hosts in front.
Things unravelled from there for Robin van Persie’s charges. NEC piled forwards, defenders Ahmetcan Kaplan and Dasa stationed in the Feyenoord half, and looked fitter than their sluggish opponents, winning almost every fight for the ball. Substitute Dirk Pröper sent out a warning by hitting the net seconds after entering the pitch, only for the goal to be disallowed for a marginal offside. Minutes later, another replacement, midfielder Noé Lebreton, scored after a defensive farrago. Başar Önal was allowed time to cross and found the unmarked Lebreton on the edge of the six-yard box, the Frenchman only needing to nod past Timon Wellenreuther. This time no flag was forthcoming to save the home side.
Things would get even better for Schreuder’s team, who continued applying pressure with the scores level. Shiogai, subbed on for Linssen, got in front of his compatriot Watanabe to turn in another cross from the excellent Önal on 83 minutes. Van Persie threw on an extra striker in Casper Tengstedt to salvage a point, but the last word was for Shiogai. As Feyenoord sent everyone forward, an NEC clearance found its way to the young Japanese, who saw Wellenreuther off his line and scored a Kenny McLean-esque goal from near the centre circle. It was a fittingly flamboyant way to cap off the Nijmegen side’s first win over Feyenoord since 2015.
Inthehalfspace 