NOS Football•yesterday, 11:40 PM
PSV has barely qualified for the quarter-finals of the KNVB cup tournament. Against Excelsior, the Premier League leader faced a 1-3 deficit just before the end, but in the 97th minute substitute Ismael Saibari forced extra time. PSV eventually won 5-4.
In this way, coach Peter Bosz’s team narrowly avoided the eighth finals being the final destination, just like last time. At the time, Feyenoord was 1-0 too strong in De Kuip.
It is not yet known which team will face PSV in the quarter-finals of the tournament. The other eighth finals will be completed in the coming days, including Go Ahead Eagles-FC Twente on Wednesday. Earlier today, AZ defeated Ajax 2-0 at home. The draw is on Friday.
PSV started dominantly and thought they would make it 1-0 after half an hour through Johan Bakayoko. He took advantage of a defensive error after a deep pass from Armando Obispo and was able to tap in from close range, but the VAR determined that the Belgian had started from an offside position.
Outstanding Gear
Excelsior had 22-year-old goalkeeper Calvin Raatsie to thank for not being 2-0 behind for a long time at that moment. Guus Til, Ricardo Pepi and Bakayoko, among others, came across the excellent goalkeeping Raatsie.
Fifteen minutes after Bakayoko’s disallowed goal, eyes were again focused on the VAR, after Til was kicked down in the goalkeeper’s area by occasional defender Mike van Duinen. The VAR took little time to rule that it was not enough for a penalty.
Excelsior in the lead
Both teams now seemed to be preparing to head to the dressing rooms goalless when Excelsior took the lead against odds deep into injury time. Noah Naujoks headed Lance Duijvestijn’s free kick into the net.
The unexpected goal completely changed the match picture. Excelsior came out of the break strong and seemed to have found their confidence. The team played daring football and suddenly it was the visitors who had the upper hand in Eindhoven.
That led to a great opportunity for Seydou Fini four minutes after the restart. The left winger headed towards Drommel on his own after a nice deep pass from Derensili Fernandes, but hesitated too long and saw how the PSV goalkeeper made the save.
Rake header
In this period of the match, a second goal from Excelsior seemed more likely than an equalizer from PSV and after an hour that suspicion was confirmed. Once again it was Naujoks who nodded the ball into the goal between several defenders, this time after a short corner kick.
With the disappointment in last year’s eighth finals in mind, PSV then pushed hard to prevent a cup disgrace. PSV scored the tying goal through Malik Tillman. The American hit a falling ball hard behind Raatsie, who was still excellent goalkeeper.
It was Duijvestijn, who had provided the assist on the 0-1, who seemed to decide the game ten minutes before the end. The attacker was completely overlooked by the Eindhoven defense and was able to shoot the 1-3 into the corner unthreatened in the penalty area.
Late equalizer
Pepi’s tying goal, in the 86th minute, seemed to come too late for the Eindhoven team. But just as Excelsior took the lead deep into injury time in the first half, Saibari scored the equalizer on behalf of PSV at the absolute end of the match.
The 98th minute had now started when a high cross from Ivan Perisic was unfortunately left between two Excelsior defenders, after which an attentive Luuk de Jong enabled the free-standing Saibari to shoot the 3-3 into the corner.
Excelsior could not overcome the mental blow. In extra time, Pepi and Perisic scored on behalf of PSV. In the 117th minute, Richie Omorowa converted another penalty on behalf of Excelsior, but the tying goal came too late for the Rotterdam team.
