RKC Waalwijk looked to be heading for three points at home against Excelsior, but took a 2-0 lead in the last fifteen minutes. The 2-2 draw was an unwanted first for the home team: Henk Fraser’s team drew for the first time this season.
In the early stages Excelsior goalkeeper Stijn van Gassel had to intervene twice to prevent the home team from scoring.
However, midfielder Yassin Oukili was forced to capitulate midway through the second half when good work from Julian Lelieveld made the score 1-0. VAR spent a lot of time determining whether Michiel Kramer was offside at the start of the attack, but this was not the case.
Excelsior offered only occasional resistance, from goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen’s rebound from Siebe Horemans’ shot and from Cisse Sandra’s rebound.
After the break, Couhaib Driouech broke free, but his shot went just over the RKC crossbar. Then Oukili got a little more lucky: his shot went past Rotterdam and towards the goal: 2-0.
Excelsior defends itself
This seemed to secure the loot of the aforementioned Waalwijkers, but it turned out to be the opposite. Driouech managed to pass a deep pass just in front of the defensive line, whereupon his cross reached substitute Nikolas Agrafiotis. The header was headed towards his own goal by RKC defender Dario van den Buijs: 2-1.
This was not the end of the Kralingse cake. Following Oukili’s foul, Excelsior were allowed to take a free kick from a good distance. Julian Baas took advantage of this opportunity and sent the ball high into the ropes: 2-2.
In extra time, Kramer thought he could seal victory for his men, but Van Gastel parried a header from the RKC captain, whose Excelsior are favorites to win in the Premier League with six goals.
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.
