ROTTERDAM. NEC was eventually too much to handle for Excelsior with the goal of Magnus Mattsson (45′), Souffian El Karouani (73′) and Anthony Musaba (85′). NEC was vastly superior in terms of ball possession (65%) and that was among the factors of its victory.​
The match was played at the Van Donge & De Roo Stadion stadium in Rotterdam on Sunday and it started at 8:00 pm local time. The referee was Martin van den Kerkhof with the assistance of Rens Bluemink and Dave Goossens. The 4th official was Jesse Rozendal. The weather was cloudy. The temperature was quite cold at 5.5 degrees Celsius or 41.92 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 92%.​
Match Statistics​
Ball possession
NEC had a superior ball possession 65% while Excelsior was struggling with a 35% ball possession.
Attitude and shots
Excelsior was putting more pressure with 58 dangerous attacks and 10 shots of which 4 were on target. Anyhow, NEC succeeded in find the solution to win this match.​
NEC shot 17 times, 6 on target, 7 off target. Talking about the opposition, Excelsior shot 10 times, 4 on target, 4 off target.
Cards
NEC received 2 yellow cards (Philippe Sandler and Calvin Verdonk). Talking about the opposition, Excelsior received 2 yellow cards (Redouan El Yaakoubi and Sven Nieuwpoort).
Also, Excelsior didn’t finish the match with 11 players after Redouan El Yaakoubi (Excelsior) was sent off after receiving a second yellow card (47′).
Match Timeline
Standings
After this match, NEC will have 27 points to hold in the 10th place. Talking about the opposition, Excelsior will stay with 20 points like FC Volendam to hold in the 15th place.
Next matches
In the next match in the Eredivisie, NEC will play away with FC Groningen on the 23rd of April with a 11-10 head to head stats in favor of NEC (10 draws).
Excelsior will host SC Cambuur on the 19th of March with a 7-7 head to head.
NEC – Formation
NEC adopted the 4-2-3-1 line-up (4-2-3-1).
The manager Marinus Dijkhuizen decided to play with the following team: Jasper Cillessen , Calvin Verdonk , Iván Márquez , Philippe Sandler , Souffian El Karouani , Dirk Proper , Lasse Schøne , Elayis Tavsan , Jordy Bruijn , Magnus Mattsson and Landry Dimata .
The home team had on the bench: Terry Sanniez, Rijk Janse, Ibrahim Cissoko, Joris Kramer, Pedro Marques, Anthony Musaba , Andri Fannar Baldursson, Mattijs Branderhorst and Ilias Bronkhorst.
Substitutions
NEC made 5 changes: E. Tavşan for Anthony Musaba (78′), Jordy Bruijn for Andri Fannar Baldursson (83′), Landry Dimata for Marques (83′), Magnus Mattsson for Ibrahim Cissoko (88′) and Calvin Verdonk for Terry Sanniez (88′).
Best player: Calvin Verdonk​
The player that probably impressed the most for NEC was Calvin Verdonk even if he didn’t score any goal.
His rating is with 76 passes (86% accurate) and 2 key passes. He was won 4 duels out of 8. He performed 2 crosses.
Excelsior – Formation
Also Excelsior adopted the 4-2-3-1 line-up (4-2-3-1).
Rogier Meijer played with: Stijn van Gassel , Siebe Horemans , Sven Nieuwpoort , Redouan El Yaakoubi , Nathan Tjoe-A-On , Julian Baas , Peer Koopmeiners , Marouan Azarkan , Kenzo Goudmijn , Lazaros Lamprou and Reda Kharchouch .
These were the players on the bench: Nikolas Agrafiotis , Pascal Kuiper, Nathan Markelo, Mike van Duinen , Serano Seymor , Arthur Zagre, Adrian Fein, Noah Naujoks , Norbert Alblas, Joshua Eijgenraam and Couhaib Driouech .
Substitutions
Excelsior made 5 changes: Reda Kharchouch for Couhaib Driouech (59′), Marouan Azarkan for Mike van Duinen (59′), Lazaros Lamprou for Serano Seymor (80′), Julian Baas for Noah Naujoks (80′) and Kenzo Goudmijn for Nikolas Agrafiotis (83′).
Best player: Nathan Tjoe-A-On​
The most impressive player for Excelsior was Nathan Tjoe-A-On.
His rating is with 22 passes (86% accurate) and 1 key pass. He was won 5 duels out of 7. He performed 5 crosses.
Results of the day
These are the results of the day in the Eredivisie.​
- SC Cambuur – SC Heerenveen – 1-2
- Go Ahead Eagles – FC Twente – 2-0
- FC Utrecht – PSV – 2-2
- Excelsior – NEC – 0-3
- Ajax – Sparta Rotterdam – 4-0