EINDHOVEN--Where PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord Rotterdam both booked victories in the first leg of the Europa League third qualifying round on Thursday evening, AZ Alkmaar scored a goalless draw.
PSV earned a narrow 1-0 routine win against FK Haugesund. A single goal from Steven Bergwijn, who converted a penalty on 24 minutes, separated the two sides.
PVS head coach Mark van Bommel made only one change to his starting line-up, with German centre half Timo Baumgartl making his full competitive debut for PSV.
The Norwegian hosts started brightly and saw most of the ball. Sandberg burst down the right flank on seven minutes but saw his effort blocked for a corner.
PSV could not create any chances of note in the opening stages but gradually began to take control. After Slovenian referee Matej Jug had waved away a decent penalty appeal for handball, he pointed to the spot on 24 minutes for an alleged handball of a Norwegian defender who tried to block Pereiro’s shot.
Steven Bergwijn stepped up and sent keeper Sandvik the wrong to open the scoring for PSV in Haugesund: 0-1.
The second half continued in more or less the same vein. The home side enjoyed the bulk of possession but never really threatened the PSV defence.
Van Bommel made a double change on 58 minutes, introducing Hirving Lozano and Cody Gakpo for Bruma and Gaston Pereiro to bolster PSV’s attacking options but no goals were scored in an uneventful second half.
PSV will be back in league action on Sunday when they entertain ADO Den Haag on Sunday night in their first home game of the new season, before welcoming SK Haugesund for the return leg in the Philips Stadion next Thursday.
Feyenoord Rotterdam have one foot in the Europa League playoffs after a 4-0 victory over Dinamo Tbilisi in De Kuip stadium. Manager Jaap Stam had to do without a fit centre-forward against the Georgian side meaning Steven Berghuis began through the middle. Bart Nieuwkoop came in at right-back, while Renato Tapia was chosen in midfield.
Feyenoord began strongly and should have been ahead in the second minute when a Berghuis shot was parried into the path of Sam Larsson, but the winger fired over the bar.
The hosts were dominant but they could not find the opening goal until the 42nd minute. After a combination between Berghuis and Larsson, the ball was presented to Luis Sinisterra, who found the net with an excellent strike.
Both sides had chances but in the 79th minute the game swung in Feyenoord’s favour when Akaki Shulaia was shown his second yellow card. Playing against ten men, Feyenoord ran riot in the last 10 minutes to secure a simple victory. A free-kick by Berghuis was deflected into his own net by Davit Kobouri to make it 2-0. Berghuis then made it 3-0 from the penalty spot after a handball before Luciano Narsingh completed the rout with a tap-in late on.
Feyenoord head to Georgia next week with a handsome lead and can almost start planning for a meeting with either IFK Norrköping or Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the playoff round.
AZ Alkmaar failed to take their chances as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Mariupol in the first-leg of their third qualifying round clash. Arnie Slot’s side dominated Mariupol from the start and got a big chance after 10 minutes. Oussama Idrissi was played through on goal but his pass was not met by a waiting Myron Boadu. Mariupol goalkeeper Rustam Khudzhamov then made an excellent save to deny Calvin Stengs, while Thomas Ouwejan’s free-kick flew just wide.
After an hour, AZ thought they had finally taken the lead when Boadu found the net. However, the goal was disallowed for handball.
AZ were then denied victory by Khudzhamov, who made excellent saves to deny Idrissi and then Stengs. Boadu was also played in on goal but fired just wide as AZ were forced to settle for a draw.
Next week, AZ Alkmaar will look to get the job done at the AFAS stadium and book a place in the playoffs against either Viktoria Plzen or Antwerp.
