Feijenoord cruise past Utrecht with five goals at home
Feijenoord beat Utrecht 5–0 in the seventh round of the Eredivision on Sunday at the Feijenoord Stadium. The hosts opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Anis Hadj Moussa found the net, and Nacho Ferri doubled the lead three minutes later. Hadj Moussa added a second of his own in the 33rd minute, and Luciano Valente converted a penalty in the 53rd minute before Gaoussou Kyassou Diarra made it five in the 64th.
There were five substitutions in the first half alone. Feijenoord brought on Artem Stepanov in the 31st minute, then Ángel Alarcón, Davy Van Den Berg and Adrian Blake all came on at the break. Mika Mármol and Nacho Ferri were paired off in the 61st minute, and by then Utrecht had already made a tactical shift that did not change the flow of the game.
Possession sat at 57 per cent for the hosts, who registered 12 shots on target against just two from the visitors. Expected goals tell the same story: 3.41 for Feijenoord compared with 0.58 for Utrecht. The hosts created seven big chances and completed 144 passes into the final third, while Utrecht managed only two and 55 respectively.
Utrecht’s goalkeeper had to make seven saves to keep the scoreline respectable, but the effort was wasted. The visitors completed 362 passes in total and attempted 14 tackles, yet they lost aerial duels despite winning 18 of them. Feijenoord won 18 as well but landed seven of those.
The result moves Feijenoord to second place with 17 points from seven games, while Utrecht drop to 15th with five points and four defeats. The hosts have won five of their last seven league matches, but the form before that was mixed — they lost 5–1 to Barcelona and drew 2–2 with ADO Den Haag in September.
Utrecht’s run is far less convincing. They beat Excelsior 2–1 last time out, but have also drawn with Go Ahead Eagles and suffered heavy defeats to PSV and A