It wasn’t the number of chances that mattered, but Vitesse couldn’t beat PEC Zwolle 1-1 in their own Gelredome match. Million Manhoef earned the Arnhem team a point with two minutes remaining after PEC Zwolle had put Younes Namli ahead early in the game.
Before this season, Vitesse had never created so many chances and shot as often as in the home game against Zwolle. Of the 28 shots on target, 12 went between the posts and ultimately only one went into the goal. Manhoef’s dry shot between the legs of PEC goalkeeper Jasper Schendelaar.
17 corners
Vitesse were all hoping to make a complete comeback in one of the many corners (17 in total) in four minutes of injury time, but their attacking spirit was not rewarded with three points.
Vitesse are not making much progress: they remain in fourteenth place and could be overtaken by FC Utrecht and SC Heerenveen this weekend if everything goes wrong. PEC Zwolle failed to put in a good second half performance in last week’s win against Excelsior and now NEC have to fear they will overdo it.
Just a few points above the relegation zone (six defeats), Vitesse can make every point count. They have only picked up points against Volendam, NEC and Excelsior, but things have gone wrong against FC Twente, AZ, RKC, Sparta, PSV and, last week, Feyenoord.
In the PEC, they would be looking to maintain the form they had after last week’s break against Excelsior, which resulted in their first win since September 2.
There wasn’t much of this form against Vitesse. But they took the lead after just over twenty minutes thanks to Namli’s well-placed long-range shot. Vitesse goalkeeper Elroy Room was stunned.
Vitesse was not discouraged and continued to attack. However, although Zwolle only had half the chance to score, Vitesse failed to score in their thirteen attempts before half-time. Even after the break, Vitesse played football and did their best to score goals, while Zwolle focused on counter-attacking football.
With twenty minutes to go the Gelredome became a bit tense, especially when Zwolle midfielder Ryan Thomas clumsily recovered a ball from outside the line. Manhoef’s smart dribbling and a good shot from the right wing still earned Vitesse the point they deserved.
Source: NOS
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
