Heerenveen move to KNVB Beker final

Trond Sollied's SC Heerenveen head to the finals of the KNVB Beker on the strength of a 2-0 victory over FC Volendam at KRAS-stadion. De Friezen have featured in the finals twice, last in the in 1997 against Roda JC but have yet to capture the prize. With the victory Heerenveen will face Steve McClaren's Twente, who defeated NAC Breda 3-1, in the final on 17 May.

The opening goal came ten minutes in as Volendam, Het Andere Oranje, were being swarmed and couldn't clear the ball out of their own end. After getting on the end of a loose ball Christian Grindheim, with at least five of Volendam in-front of him near the box, he drove forward before sending the ball to Viktor Elm who was inexplicably wide open before sending in from the edge of the box. Opportunities were sparse and Heerenveen were fortunate not to have a penalty called just before the break as Jacobus Tuyp went down in the area with contact from Michal Švec. Finally with six minutes left Danijel Pranjić accepted the ball from the far right and worked across the top of the box before curling the ball just inside the left post to bring it to a 2-0 conclusion.

AZ owns PSV in KNVB Cup

Louis van Gaal's mastery over PSV this campaign continued as they defeated the Eindhoven club 1-0 in the KNVB cup. As the match started PSV's tactical plan appeared solid but lacked the final stages of the attack and reasonable scoring chances slowly waned. AZ, still unaccustomed to their lofty status, gained confidence as the match went on and after the break they were clearly the dominant squad. Opportunities presented themselves but PSV 'keeper Andreas Isaksson held them at bay and the match headed to extra time without a goal. Finally, with constant pressure David Mendes da Silva found the winner to the delight of the home fans.

PSV to face AZ in NKVB Cup

PSV will face AZ in the third round of KNVB Cup tonight with a firm memory of their recent 1-0 loss to the Alkmaar club.

Before the match PSV manager Hubb Stevens commented:

“But it’s now up to the players to get our season going again. We must focus on a good result in Alkmaar. Expectations at PSV always run high. Unlike AZ, we are not in a flow. When we faced them in the league, it was quite different, which proves once again that things can change very rapidly in football.”

PSV will be without Eric Addo, Nordin Amrabat, Otman Bakkal, Jérémie Bréchet and Timmy Simons for the match.

I will report on the match as it concludes.