25 augustus 2024 – 16:34
The city derby between Sparta Rotterdam and Feyenoord ended in a 1-1 draw this afternoon. The Kasteelheren took the lead thanks to Camiel Neghli, but in the second half Quinten Timber ensured a draw.
Last week, Sparta took a nice point in Enschede. On a visit to FC Twente, it looked for a long time as if the Kasteelheren would suffer their first defeat of the season, but thanks to a great cross from Ayoub Oufkir and the subsequent header from Tobias Lauritsen, it ended in 1-1. Compared to that match, coach Jeroen Rijsdijk had to make one forced change. Teo Quintero was absent this afternoon, so the centre was formed by Rick Meissen and Mike Eerdhuijzen. However, Rijsdijk’s options in midfield were expanded with the return of Joshua Kitolano. He initially took a seat on the bench. On that bench we saw another new face compared to last week. Dylan Tevreden was in the selection as third keeper, for the first time in an Eredivisie match.
Sparta started the match strongly and came very close to 1-0 after five minutes. Boyd Reith gave the ball on a silver platter to Tobias Lauritsen on the right side of the field, who headed it. Timon Wellenreuther and the crossbar prevented Feyenoord from an early deficit. This chance woke up the club from Rotterdam-Zuid, who had a great opportunity of their own just a few minutes later. First, the shot from former Sparta youth player Gjivai Zechiël was saved by Nick Olij, after which Igor Paixao shot over from a promising position from the subsequent corner. Then there was a change in the game, where Feyenoord took more initiative after the first ten minutes and started to control the game. This gave the team of trainer Brian Priske the best chance of the opening phase after sixteen minutes. David Hancko was able to head from a corner by Calvin Stengs, but hit the post.
After Sparta got away with this chance, it held its ground more and more easily against its city rivals. Feyenoord remained the team that was allowed to make the game, but for a long time it did not get much further than a roller from Quinten Timber. On the other hand, it was not that the 1-0 was in the air, but it did come after a good half hour of play. Arno Verschueren made it difficult for Wellenreuther with a long ball from Olij. The German goalkeeper had to come out of his penalty area and headed the ball to the feet of Camiel Neghli, who then did a very nice job. The attacker shot the ball with his weaker right leg over Wellenreuther in one go: 1-0. Feyenoord was clearly hit by this beautiful goal, which allowed Sparta to smell the 2-0 twice from the transition. First it was Mohamed Nassoh who got to a shot, but shot over. On a pass from Pelle Clement, Neghli got the ball between the posts a little later, but that did not cause any problems for Wellenreuther. The 2-0 did not fall before half-time, but nevertheless everyone went to rest with a red-white Sparta heart full of joy.
There must have been some harsh words in the dressing room at Feyenoord, because the ‘stadium club’ came out of the dressing room fiercely. It resulted in a number of perilous moments in front of Olij’s goal, with Timber having the best chance. However, his header lacked the power to really make things difficult for Olij. Sparta eventually got through the first five minutes of the second half unscathed and got a decent chance via Nassoh himself. However, his effort ended up straight in the hands of Wellenreuther after a beautiful attack. Four minutes later, Wellenreuther was again fired at by a Spartan shot, this time by Arno Verschueren. Surprisingly enough, the goalkeeper had a hard time with that and offered Lauritsen a huge chance from the rebound. However, from close range, the striker placed the ball wide. Where Sparta missed the chance for 2-0, it was Feyenoord that scored. Hancko reached Timber with a clever through ball, who turned away and shot hard inside: 1-1. The celebrations among the southerners of the city were short-lived, however. Shortly after the equalizer, Ramiz Zerrouki committed a hard foul, which cost him his second yellow card. As a result, Sparta played the last half hour with one man more.
The hope for a derby victory increased for all Spartans, who saw that Neghli had a great chance for his second goal. The attacker created the opportunity himself by going inside and shooting. Wellenreuther, however, had an answer to Neghli’s shot this time. On the other side, Feyenoord seemed to have the opportunity for 1-2, when referee Alex Bos awarded a penalty to the visitors. However, the VAR gave Sparta a helping hand, because Mike Eerdhuijzen held Paixao outside the penalty area. Where you normally expect a final offensive from Feyenoord in a city derby with a 1-1 score, it was now Sparta (of course because of the red card on the side of the visitors) who wanted to claim the victory the most. Trainer Jeroen Rijsdijk brought in attacker Shunsuke Mito and later also Charles-Andreas Brym and Ayoub Oufkir. However, this did not lead to many chances, it was even Feyenoord who created danger in the person of Calvin Stengs. His free kick was eventually an prey for Olij. Also in injury time, the best chances for Feyenoord were via Ayase Ueda and Hancko. However, both Feyenoord players did not get the ball on target.
As a result, the score remained 1-1 and both teams felt that more was possible. Sparta will be in action one more time before the international break. That is next Saturday when the Kasteelheren will visit Willem II. Kick-off in Tilburg is at 21:00.
Sparta Rotterdam line-up:
English: Nick Olij, Boyd Reith, Rick Meissen, Mike Eerdhuijzen, Djevencio van der Kust, Julian Baas (90. Ayoub Oufkir), Camiel Neghli (81. Shunsuke Mito), Pelle Clement (65. Joshua Kitolano), Tobias Lauritsen, Arno Verschueren (81. Metinho), Mohamed Nassoh (90. Charles-Andreas Brym)
