NOS Football•today, 9:51 PM
View the summary of Excelsior – PSV here
PSV has washed away the hangover from the first league defeat this season against NEC with a victory. The leader won 2-0 on Tuesday evening at Excelsior, number sixteen in the rankings, but it was not easy at first. Only after the break did PSV strike with goals from Mauro Júnior and Johan Bakayoko.
The difference with pursuer Feyenoord has temporarily grown to ten points. The Rotterdam team will play away to last-place Volendam on Thursday.
To put something right
PSV had to put something right in the midweek match. Trainer Peter Bosz complained last Saturday – he said he had not played – about the “haughty and arrogant” attitude of his players.
According to him, this had partly ensured that the impressive series of 42 Premier League matches without defeat came to an end with the 3-1 loss at NEC.
From what his team initially showed on the artificial grass of Woudenstein, Bosz’s mood will not have improved immediately. The leader is no longer the team that toured the Dutch fields for three quarters of the season with an aura of invincibility.
With Mauro Júnior and Malik Tillman for Jerdy Schouten and Hirving Lozano (both slightly injured) in the team, PSV hardly created any chances before half-time, except for a loose ball from Mauro Júnior that flew over and a header from Joey Veerman that disappeared wide.
Easy to get up
Excelsior, which last won a league match on January 19, only got two points from the last nine games and has dropped below the danger line, easily survived.
It even gave out the occasional pinprick, despite the fact that the fast attacker Couhaib Driouech was injured in the twelfth minute.
The best chance was just before half time for Luuk de Jong, who aimed just wide after a nice through ball from Sergiño Dest. The number two on the top scorers list, who scored a hat-trick in the home match against Excelsior (3-1) earlier this season, has been dry since February 24.
PSV did not get a single shot between the posts in the first half. That was the first time this season.
Ban broken
Even in the first minutes after the break, PSV was hardly dangerous. The proverbial spell was broken in the 58th minute.
After Excelsior goalkeeper Stijn van Gassel had initially stopped André Ramalho from scoring with a header from a corner, he had no chance a few minutes later on a hard long-range shot from Mauro Júnior. It was the Brazilian’s first goal in more than two years.
Then things seemed to go fast. In the 62nd minute, Tillman found Johan Bakayoko, who was left completely free, on the right, who pushed the ball in for 0-2.
But instead of increasing the score and making the trainer a little happier, PSV left it at that. Only Veerman became dangerous in the 79th minute, but his long-range shot went over.
