FC Emmen gets wet in Amsterdam
FOOTBALL –
FC Emmen has suffered a damage in the eighteenth round of the Kitchen Champion Division. The Drenthe club not only battled with 1-0 against Jong Ajax, but saw competitor Excelsior run two points in the battle for promotion. On Friday, leader FC Volendam lost two round points in Helmond, but with that the orange shirts eventually started a point from Emmen.
Volendam remains the leader with 39 points from 18 matches, Excelsior follows with 38 and FC Emmen is now fourth with 33 points from 18 games.
An error of judgment by substitute Mitch Apau was fatal to FC Emmen on the soaking wet field in Amsterdam. After an hour of play, the defender had completely lost captain Youri Regeer with a cross from the seed. The midfielder controlled the ball behind Michael Brouwer. Substitute Reda Kharchouch, Jasin-Amin Assehnoun and Rui Mendes were still close to the equalizer after that, but Ajax goalkeeper Jay Gorter was in excellent form.
What if Mendes…?
But what if Mendes, just before the only shot between the posts of Ajax, had shot the ball eye to eye with Gorter? We will never know, but what an opportunity the number 7 of the Drenthe club left there.
Other than that, the game was pretty evenly matched. Young Ajax played football and had a strong weapon in left striker Mohamed Daramy. But on the other hand, FC Emmen never really got into trouble for a moment. The guests also have the most opportunities in ninety minutes, they shot most often between the posts (1 to 6) but also too few players who were in great form.
Jeredy Hilterman worked hard but was hardly dangerous, Jari Vlak did not manage to surprise, Arnaud Luzayadio had a hard time and actually Miquel Araujo (together with captain Jeroen Veldmate) was the only one who could easily stay upright. Oussama El Azzouzi also played well, but he had to be sidelined briefly during the break after a tough foul by match winner Regeer (who was penalized with a yellow card for that foul).