Feyenoord close in on second place with derby win
Feyenoord recorded a 4-0 victory against Sparta Rotterdam at De Kuip on Sunday to move within a point of second-placed PSV in the Eredivisie table after 21 matches. Arne Slot was able to sit back and relax in the dugout as his side dominated. Orkun Kökcü, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Guus Til (2) were the goalscorers for the hosts.
Buoyed by an inspiring minute’s ovation for the recently departed Wim Jansen, Feyenoord started with plenty of passion in blustery conditions. The visitors immediately found themselves on the back foot and after four minutes they were behind. Orkun Kökcü grabbed the opener with a shot from the edge of the box. The January Eredivisie Player of the Month benefited from a slice of fortune, as his effort was deflected in off the foot of an opponent, but the dummy he threw in the build-up was a peach.
Kökcü stars
The same could be said of the interplay and the shimmy and pass by Kökcü in the lead-up to the second goal on 11 minutes. Kökcü beat his man before switching play with a pass to Luis Sinisterra on the other side of the pitch. He played it to Alireza Jahanbakhsh, whose shot beat Maduka Okoye after the Sparta keeper slipped.
Feyenoord created several chances to extend their lead before half time but failed to finish any of them. The third goal eventually came five minutes into the second half. Sinisterra was barged off the ball, but it fell to Guus Til, who smashed it into the left-hand corner. When defender Bart Vriends lost his footing on 70 minutes Til repeated the trick to move to 13 Eredivisie goals for the season, beating his previous highest haul of 12 in 2018-19.
Twee debutants
Slot responded to Til’s double strike by introducing two debutants in Patrik Wålemark and Jorrit Hendrix. Cyriel Dessers, Jens Toornstra and Marcus Pedersen were also brought on to rest some of the starters ahead of the next match. That comes on Sunday, when Feyenoord travel to RKC Waalwijk (kick-off 14:30 CET).
Kökcü stars
The same could be said of the interplay and the shimmy and pass by Kökcü in the lead-up to the second goal on 11 minutes. Kökcü beat his man before switching play with a pass to Luis Sinisterra on the other side of the pitch. He played it to Alireza Jahanbakhsh, whose shot beat Maduka Okoye after the Sparta keeper slipped.
Feyenoord created several chances to extend their lead before half time but failed to finish any of them. The third goal eventually came five minutes into the second half. Sinisterra was barged off the ball, but it fell to Guus Til, who smashed it into the left-hand corner. When defender Bart Vriends lost his footing on 70 minutes Til repeated the trick to move to 13 Eredivisie goals for the season, beating his previous highest haul of 12 in 2018-19.
Twee debutants
Slot responded to Til’s double strike by introducing two debutants in Patrik Wålemark and Jorrit Hendrix. Cyriel Dessers, Jens Toornstra and Marcus Pedersen were also brought on to rest some of the starters ahead of the next match. That comes on Sunday, when Feyenoord travel to RKC Waalwijk (kick-off 14:30 CET).
- Feyenoord 1
- Jorrit Hendrix
- Patrik Wålemark
- Guus Til
- Alireza Jahanbakhsh
- Orkun Kökcü