ADO Den Haag suffered an unfortunate defeat at the resumption of the competition. Visiting FC Den Bosch, the team from The Hague deserved more based on the first half, but made it very difficult for themselves by conceding a quick goal in the second half. Darije Kalezic’s team returned home without points: 2-0.
After the international period, ADO Den Haag resumed the competition with an away match against FC Den Bosch. In stadium De Vliert, the yellow-greens started with four changes compared to the last competition match. For example, the centre of the defence was formed by Granli and Tomas. The latter made his official debut for ADO Den Haag. Hokke was allowed to function as left back. He had never started in the first team before, which meant he was also allowed to make his official debut. This also applied to Lourens, who was allowed to take over Schalk’s position after the captain dropped out injured during the warm-up.
In the first ten minutes of the match, it was mainly the away team that tried to find the way to the goal, but could not really create any clear-cut chances. And so, there was actually nothing going on for the first fifteen minutes, until the first breakout from the Den Bosch team also immediately hit the target. Knöll was able to chest the ball in from a high cross. ADO Den Haag seemed to be able and willing to do something back immediately, if it were not for the fact that a sharp goal attempt by Van der Sloot, could also just not be tapped in by Ideho. The next chance was already counted, after Tomas worked the ball in from a free kick by Van Mieghem. Unfortunately, the linesman flagged for offside and ADO Den Haag was still 1-0 behind.
The home team mainly lurked for counter-attack opportunities and were able to become dangerous a few times. Gravenberch tested goalkeeper Coremans with a diagonal shot, who acted appropriately. Nevertheless, ADO Den Haag dominated the first half and did everything they could to achieve the deserved equaliser before half-time. The team from The Hague came close after Kilo put the ball on the head of Ideho. However, Bakker was able to stop this hard header from close range. In the final minutes before half-time, the away team, despite the chances, did not manage to equalise.
ADO Den Haag started the second half with two changes. Sylla and newcomer Mohammad were allowed to make their appearance. Unfortunately, it was not the start they had hoped for, because within a minute Coremans had to take the ball out of the net again, after Knöll again shot the ball in the opposite direction. The away team had lost the form of the first half, which is why head coach Darije Kalezic brought De Bruin on the pitch. The talented midfielder had been injured in recent weeks and was fit enough to play minutes for the match against FC Den Bosch.
ADO Den Haag recovered and managed to do something back with a well-organized attack. In the end, it was Vlak who fired at the goal from a distance, but saw his effort saved. Van Mieghem’s rebound was also unsuccessful. On the other side of the field, Burgering came close, but Coremans managed to prevent a third goal via the crossbar. Not much later, ADO Den Haag escaped with a fright again when the crossbar again prevented a bigger lead for FC Den Bosch. ADO Den Haag gave everything in the final phase and kept pumping the ball forward, but it did not yield the desired result: 2-0.
Characteristics
FC Den Bosch – ADO Den Haag 2-0 (1-0)
Scoring progression: 15. Knoll 1-0, 46. Knoll 2-0
Referee: Dieperink
FC Den Bosch line-up: Baker (69. Bijlsma); Gravenberch (76. Acheffay), Knöll, Burgering
ADO Den Haag line-up: Coremans; Van der Sloot (57. De Bruin), Granli, Tomas, Hokke (46. Sylla); Van Mieghem, Bonis, Ideho
