Monday April 1, 2024 at 4:23 PM
FC Groningen has had a wonderful Easter weekend. The Pride of the North played the catch-up game with FC Emmen on Monday afternoon and won with clear figures: 0-3. The halftime score at the Oude Meerdijk was 0-2. Thom van Bergen, Leandro Bacuna and Romano Postema scored for the team of coach Dick Lukkien. FC Groningen now has 63 points after 32 competition matches in the Kitchen Champion Division. The result in Drenthe also officially won the third period title. In the hunt for promotion, the FC will play a home match next Sunday. At 12.15 pm, the Pride of the North will kick off in their own Euroborg against the Pearl of the South, NAC Breda.
It was a full house at the Oude Meerdijk and FC Groningen was once again supported by a packed away section with 400 FC supporters. For Lukkien it was a reunion with many old acquaintances. The trainer who worked for seven – mainly successful – years at the Oude Meerdijk, did not have left back Wouter Prins available upon his return to Drenthe. Goalkeeper Hidde Jurjus, on the other hand, had fully recovered from flu symptoms. FC Groningen therefore started the Northern clash in the same starting line-up as three days earlier in The Hague.
First half
And just like in The Hague, FC Groningen started excellently again. Within twenty minutes, green and white had already taken a 0-2 lead. Thom van Bergen is not the biggest, but he is the smartest at a corner kick and scored, 0-1. Less than five minutes later, the FC doubled the score. A quick break with fast combination football allowed Leandro Bacuna to emerge freely in front of the Emmen goal. The captain remained calm and finished exceptionally well by shooting high into the roof of the goal. Bacuna’s first competition goal since his return to Groningen, 0-2.
During the rest of the first half, FC Groningen stayed upright relatively easily, despite a few opportunities for the home team.
Second half
FC Groningen started the second half a lot more energetically than the end of the first act. That resulted in a comfortable 0-3 lead after an hour of play. Romano Postema was once again alert to a ball in space and tapped the ball past Emmen’s keeper with the tip of his shoe. De Stadjer continues to score in April with his 17th competition goal.
Player of the Year
This season, supporters will again choose the Player of the Year by voting for the King of the Match at every match. Cast your vote for your favorite in Emmen via this link.
Home game
Next Sunday (April 7), after two away matches, there will be another home match for FC Groningen. The kick-off in Euroborg is at lunchtime: 12.15 pm.
A club card obligation applies to the remaining home games this season. FC Groningen opts for registered ticket sales in the decisive phase of the competition, so that there are actually FC supporters in the home sections in Euroborg. Season ticket and club card holders can purchase three tickets per ticket for the match against NAC via https://tickets.fcgroningen.nl.
