FC Utrecht suffered a heavy defeat in Enschede. In the Grolsch Veste Utrecht played a very poor game and FC Twente took full advantage of the visitors’ mistakes to win 4-0.

It was not just a run-of-the-mill goal. It was a goal that showed a lot of effort went into it. Oussama Assaidi scored it. 4-0, 15 minutes before time, and a sigh of relief went through the Grolsch Veste. FC Twente knew for certain, nothing could go wrong now. The points were in the bag. The players, reserves, technical staff, they all congratulated each other.

Chances at the beginning
FC Twente, motivated to the bone, came off the pitch as comfortable winners, and their victory was certainly deserved. And yet. Utrecht had some good chances in the opening minutes. An optimist would say they could have gone one or even two goals ahead.

Weight off Twente’s shoulders
Half an hour later, a realist looking at the scoreboard would see that Twente got off to a poor start under pressure from Utrecht but came back into the game on fire, scoring almost at will in front of the home crowd. Tom Boere quickly got the first, and it, like the fourth, showed what the start of the season – Twente had no points from the first four games –  had done to FC Twente. The pressure had been almost unbearable but the goal brought relief. When Thomas Lam headed the 2-0 home from a corner after 20 minutes, the weight completely fell off Twente’s shoulders.

Hardly anything went right
On such an afternoon, one team always have a little more luck than the other, as demonstrated by the 3-0. Utrecht tried to clear the ball but referee Jochem Kamphuis defected it to the home team. Luciano Slagveer made grateful use of Utrecht’s bad luck and turned it to Twente’s profit by scoring.

Not Utrecht’s afternoon
Between all the FC Twente highlights, FC Utrecht occasionally threatened Jorn Brondeel’s goal but failed to outwit the Belgian keeper. Utrecht had piled attempt on attempt in their previous games but today they could not find their way through Twente’s defence. It simply was not Utrecht’s afternoon.

Busy week ahead
Utrecht does not have time to lick its wounds. Two matches are scheduled for this week. On Wednesday Ajax Amateurs are the opponents in the Amsterdam ArenA in the first round of the KNVB Cup and on Sunday PSV will be the guests in the Galgenwaard.

FC Twente - FC Utrecht 4-0 (3-0)
9. Tom Boere 1-0
18. Thomas Lam 2-0
35. Luciano Slagveer 3-0
75. Oussama Assaidi 4-0

Yellow cards: Thomas Lam (FC Twente), Willem Janssen, Yassin Ayoub (FC Utrecht).

Attendance: 24,200.

Referee: Jochem Kamphuis.

FC Twente line-up:
Jorn Brondeel; Hidde ter Avest, Peet Bijen, Thomas Lam, Jeroen van der Lely; Danny Holla (46. Haris Vuckic), Fredrik Jensen (46. Jelle van der Heyden), Michael Liendl; Luciano Slagveer, Tom Boere, Oussama Assaidi (76. Adnane Tighadouini).

FC Utrecht line-up:
David Jensen; Giovanni Troupée (46. Sean Klaiber), Mark van der Maarel, Willem Janssen, Edson Braafheid; Urby Emanuelson, Sander van de Streek, Yassin Ayoub (78. Rico Strieder), Zakaria Labyad; Gyrano Kerk (46. Jean-Christophe Bahebeck), Cyriel Dessers.