FEYENOORD RECLAIM POLE POSITION

NEC came to Rotterdam with a clear plan and it was called offside. The visitors implemented their trap well and Feyenoord must have been frustrated as they were caught again and again in the first half-hour. In fact it was NEC that came closest to breaking the deadlock, Wielaert hitting the post. Soon afterwards Ax crossed in front of goal but Van Rijswijk was unable to take full advantage. That was the last we saw of NEC. The visitor’s offside trap didn’t work on 38 minutes and Jon Dahl Tomasson was able to latch onto a long ball and take it on into the box before shooting past keeper Gentenaar for 1-0. Just ahead of the break Feyenoord were awarded a free kick in a position very similar to the one they were given on Thursday in Freiburg. This time Van Hooijdonk saw his effort rebound off the wall. Feyenoord’s top scorer took another swipe out of the ball however and found the back of the net for the two hundred and fiftieth time in his career. In the second half Feyenoord continued where they left off in the first. Smolarek was felled by Koning in the box and Van Hooijdonk gratefully converted the penalty for three-nil. Within the hour it was four, Tomasson chesting down for Bosvelt who shot hard and true to send the fans into raptures. Civard Sprockel came in for Paauwe and almost scored with his first touch, but saw his header cleared from the line by Rob Wielaert. Said Boutahar and Igor Korneev also came on as the game entered its final stages and it was Korneev the Russian who made it five for the home side at the death to send the faithful home with a smile on their faces. Feyenoord - NEC 5-0 (2-0) Ref. H. van Dijk Spect. 38000 GOALS 39’ 1-0 Tomasson 45’ 2-0 Van Hooijdonk 50’ 3-0 Van Hooijdonk 57’ 4-0 Bosvelt 83’ 5-0 Korneev Feyenoord: Zoetebier: Gyan, De Haan, Paauwe (64’ Sprockel), De Visser; Elmander, Bosvelt (75’ Boutahar), Ono, Smolarek; Tomasson (80’ Korneev), Van Hooijdonk. NEC: Gentenaar; Schuurman, Hesp, Koning (76’ Wegh), Leiwakabessy, Wielaert, Simr (62’ Demouge), Ax (62’ Dos Santos), Latuheru, Van Rijswijk, Jansen. RED CARD: NEC Hesp (2x yellow) MPV: Zoetebier