15 september 2024 – 14:13
Sparta Rotterdam suffered their first defeat of the season this afternoon. At Het Kasteel, the Rotterdammers lost 1-2 to Go Ahead Eagles. The Spartan goal by Shunsuke Mito in the final phase came too late.
Sparta had a great start to the season before the match. The Kasteelheren remained undefeated in all four matches and even went into the international break with three points. When visiting Willem II, they won 1-2, after Sparta had already drawn against FC Twente and Feyenoord. Against Go Ahead Eagles, who lost three of the four matches this season, coach Jeroen Rijsdijk chose the same eleven names as against Willem II. That meant a starting spot for Rick Meissen again, despite the return of Teo Quintero. The Spaniard was not yet fit enough for a starting spot, but was on the bench again this afternoon.
Text continues below the photo. (Photo: Carla Vos)
Sparta started the match well and had two chances in the first ten minutes. The first came from the head of Tobias Lauritsen, who headed into the hands of Luca Plogman on a pass from Djevencio van der Kust. A few minutes later Arno Verschueren tested the Eagles’ goalie, who again had no problems keeping his goal clean. It took fifteen minutes before Go Ahead Eagles also appeared dangerously in front of Nick Olij’s goal for the first time. From a corner kick Mats Deijl had the ball ready to head in, but he couldn’t get his head to the ball. Three minutes later, however, the visitors scored. Jakob Breum came in on the left side of the field, was not tackled by the Sparta defence, and beat Olij in the near corner: 0-1.
Text continues below the photo. (Photo: Carla Vos)
After this goal, the game turned further in Go Ahead Eagles’ direction. The team of trainer Paul Simonis was well organised and was more threatening than Sparta in attack. After half an hour of play, Victor Edvardsen even seemed to score the goal of the year for Go Ahead. The Swede managed to shoot the ball over Olij from the halfway line, but saw his effort bounce off the underside of the crossbar. Shortly afterwards, Bobby Adekanye had the 0-2 at his feet, but Olij kept Sparta on its feet. In the last fifteen minutes of the first half, Sparta regained some control over the game, which resulted in one serious chance just before half-time. Lauritsen was able to head from a corner, but nodded over. Before that, Camiel Neghli took Plogman under fire, but did so in an offside position. On the other side, an attempt by Oliver Antman went wide.
Text continues below the photo. (Photo: Mischa Keemink)
Rijsdijk was apparently not satisfied with the first half, because halfway through the coach brought in three fresh players. Tobias Lauritsen, Arno Verschueren and Pelle Clement remained in the dressing room for Charles-Andreas Brym, Metinho and Joshua Kitolano. These substitutions did not bear fruit, because after seven minutes in the second half the 0-2 disappeared on the scoreboard. From the scramble the ball came to the feet of Edvardsen, who cleverly took advantage of the fact that Olij was no longer well positioned. The striker lifted the ball beautifully over the goalie to ensure the 0-2. Three minutes later the 0-3 also seemed to be in the making, when Metinho almost scored an own goal from a corner kick. Olij prevented that, after which Gerrit Nauber shot just wide from the subsequent rebound. After Sparta had recovered from the blow it received immediately after the break, it came close to making it 1-2 after more than an hour of play. However, Neghli’s powerful free kick was saved by Plogman, after which Brym’s head hit the goalkeeper again on the rebound.
Text continues below the photo. (Photo: Mischa Keemink)
This chance did give Sparta hope for the equaliser, which continued to chase the 1-2 with the introduction of debutant Mike Kleijn. Kitolano and Neghli had great chances fifteen minutes before the end. However, the ball refused to disappear behind Plogman from a scrimmage. Ten minutes before the end, the 1-2 fell. After luck was not on Boyd Reith’s side, Shunsuke Mito did score from the subsequent corner kick. The Japanese player had not yet entered the field when he surprised Plogman from a great distance in the near corner. With that, a result was suddenly within reach for Sparta and it left Go Ahead Eagles reeling in the final phase. However, the Rotterdammers did not manage much more than a shot from Neghli and a header from Mike Eerdhuijzen in the final offensive.
As a result, Sparta lost, for the first time this season, 1-2 to Go Ahead Eagles. Next week, the red-whites have a new chance for three points, when they visit RKC.
Sparta Rotterdam line-up:
Nick Olij, Boyd Reith, Rick Meissen, Mike Eerdhuijzen, Djevencio van der Kust (67. Mike Kleijn), Julian Baas, Camiel Neghli, Pelle Clement (46. Joshua Kitolano), Tobias Lauritsen (46. Charles-Andreas Brym), Arno Verschueren (46. Metinho), Mohamed Nassoh (77. Shunsuke Mito)
