After eight games without a win, PEC Zwolle tastes the sweetness of a victory again. Three very important points have been won after the Zwolle team managed to win the home game against Excelsior 2-1, thereby increasing the difference with Excelsior from six to nine points. The Zwolle goals come from Anselmo García Mac Nulty and Ody Velanas.
Leo Major Liberation Competition
In the Leo Major Liberation Match – before the match the players took to the field with veterans to commemorate the liberation of the city of Zwolle (79 years ago on April 14) – PEC Zwolle delivered an excellent first half. Within ten minutes it seemed to make it 1-0. After a brilliant attack over several sliders, Ody Velanas’ cross ended up with Lennart Thy. The German striker shot in, but the VAR disallowed the goal for offside.
First goal as a professional football player
The deserved opening goal came in minute 18. Anselmo García Mac Nulty was in the right place to shoot in from a corner. Thomas Lam first tried, but he ran into goalkeeper Stijn van Gassel. The rebound went to our left back, who celebrated his first goal as a professional football player with great enthusiasm.
It was actually a miracle that it was only 1-0 at halftime, PEC Zwolle created so many chances. Eliano Reijnders, for example, played around three men, but saw his ball go just wide of the goal. And keeper Van Gassel saved on attempts by Velanas and Namli, among others. Excelsior also survived a pinball situation in the final phase of the first half. Miraculously the ball just didn’t go in.
Margin of two
Excelsior had little to say, only Lazaros Lamprou was very dangerous in the first minutes of the match. Lance Duijvestijn created more danger on behalf of the visitors with a long shot at the beginning of the second half. That attempt also failed to score a goal for the visitors. The biggest chance for PEC in the first fifteen minutes after half-time was thanks to Excelsior. A back pass from Julian Baas to keeper Van Gassel went wrong, but the defender was lucky to see the ball hit the post and come back into the game. Johnny Jansen’s men then got back into the game and that led to Ody Velanas’ 2-0. The midfielder was sent away by Filip Krastev and shot the ball hard.
In the last quarter of the match, there seemed to be little going on for PEC Zwolle, which allowed few chances. Yet Excelsior came back to 2-1 through Lance Duijvestijn. As a result, it was still a bit of a struggle, but the victory was no longer relinquished.
Next Sunday, PEC Zwolle will travel to Nijmegen to meet cup finalist NEC Nijmegen. Kick-off for that game on Sunday evening is 8:00 PM.
PEC Zwolle – Excelsior: 2-1 (1-0).
Spectators: 13.655
Referee: Pérez
Yellow cards: Mac Nulty (PEC Zwolle), Nieuwpoort en Baas (Excelsior)
PEC Zwolle line-up: Schendelaar, Van Polen, Kersten, Lam, Mac Nulty, El Azzouzi (80. Van der Haar), Krastev, Velanas, Namli (83. Vellios), Thy, Reijnders
Excelsior setup: Van Gassel, Horemans, Widell, Lamprou (79. Sanches Fernandes), Sandra (46. Naujoks), Goudmijn, Nieuwpoort (46. El Yaakoubi), Omorowa (64. Van Duinen), Duijvestijn, De Moes (64. Benita), Boss
Score progression:
18. García McNulty 1-0
67. Velan 2-0
85. Duijvestijn 2-1
MatchWorks Man of the Match:
Filip Krastev
