Royal HFC was unable to pull off a new stunt during its visit to PSV. The Haarlem amateurs lost to the leader of the Eredivisie 8-0. Koninklijke HFC fell behind 2-0 early and quickly lost the game. That was not surprising, because PSV coach Peter Bosz started the match with Jerdy Schouten, Joey Veerman and Ricardo Pepi, among others.
Royal HFC once again had to do without head coach Gertjan Tamerus. Arno Verweij did the honors and sent Wessel Boer, who had just recovered from a long injury, back into the field. Marios Lomis had to cause danger again at the front. Something that only worked in the early minutes, but not anymore.
Despite a brutal first Haarlem minute, the first opportunity belonged to PSV. A sharp cross from Hirving Lozano was just defused by Rano Burger. The first big opportunity for the Haarlem team followed immediately afterwards. Xander van den Berg broke through on the left, but his cross could not be reached by Marios Lomis. The result was a lousy roller.
Quick catch up
After an interesting initial phase, PSV took control. In the twelfth minute, Ivan Perisic found Lozano Hirving with a flawless cross. With a precise header into the far corner, he left Royal HFC goalkeeper Mitchel Michaelis without a chance. A few minutes later, the visitors escaped a second goal when Joey Veerman saw his slider disappear on the wrong side of the post. Yet that goal still came quickly. Michaelis was able to turn Ricardo Pepi’s beautiful backheel, but the rebound was still shot in by the American international via the goalkeeper.
In the phase that followed, PSV loosened the reins for a while and Royal HFC was allowed to sniff some initiative. Yet PSV scored the 3-0 in that phase. Pepi escaped offside, saw his first effort saved by Michaelis, but scored in the second instance. The fourth Eindhoven goal also fell before half-time. Guus Til was completely covered incorrectly by Burger on a corner kick, after which the midfielder simply headed in. Did Royal HFC not appear in the game at all? Yes, because Wessel Boer nodded the ball just wide on the stroke of half time.
New impulses
At the start of the second half, the visitors tried to change things up. With Jan Muller and Maxwell Frimpong on the field for Marijn Ploem and Rano Burger, the initiative was immediately sought. Frimpong broke through and looked for Lomis, but the attacker could not reach the ball despite a good effort.
After an hour of play it became apparent that a number of players’ bottles were starting to become empty. PSV’s cross passes created danger time and time again. Arno Verweij brought on Levi de Wilde for Lomis to perhaps give a fresh offensive boost. Unfortunately for the interim coach, PSV was supreme. But despite that, the 5-0 was very unfortunate. Frimpong tried to clear a low cross, but he shot the ball against Ruben Heeremans. To the defender’s dismay, the ball ended up in his own goal.
Smelling a goal of honor
Levi de Wilde thought he could save the honor for Koninklijke HFC with twenty minutes to play. He broke through on the right side, cut down his opponent well, but then shot the ball into the side net. Koninklijke HFC then smelled a goal a number of times, but it didn’t happen. Afterwards, Noa Lang came into the field at PSV and Cas Dijkstra joined the Haarlem team. The latter immediately showed himself with a shot, but the goal again fell on the other side. Pepi hit hard from close range.
Rabbi Mwenda got the biggest Haarlem opportunity. His slider was cleverly stopped by PSV goalkeeper Joel Drommel. The final agreement was for Perisic. With two goals he made the final score 8-0. First he showed Koen Tros his heels and left Michaelis without a chance. Immediately afterwards he scored again, after Koninklijke HFC failed to clear the ball.
This puts an end to the cup adventure for Koninklijke HFC. In the first round, professional club FC Emmen was eliminated, but in the second round PSV turned out to be the final destination.
Text: Martijn Prinsen
