Zuliani brace seals VVV-Venlo victory despite Breda dominance
NAC Breda fell to VVV-Venlo by a score of 0:2 in the Eerste Divisie's second regular season round on Friday evening. The visitors took the lead after just four minutes when E. Zuliani found the net, and he doubled their advantage fifty minutes into the contest. To be fair, what followed was a masterclass in efficiency rather than possession.
And here's the thing about that first goal — it came before Breda could settle into their rhythm, which they had shown in their previous fixture against OSS where they won 2:1. Zuliani's finish was precise, and VVV-Venlo's goalkeeper made five saves compared to Breda's two, suggesting the visitors worked on their defensive shape.
The statistics tell one story while the result tells another. Breda registered 146 attacks against just 54 from VVV-Venlo, yet shot accuracy was 0.22 compared to 0.67 for the visitors. By then, the away end never stopped, even when their possession dropped to thirty-five percent.
Discipline was patchy on both sides, with Breda collecting three yellow cards and VVV-Venlo four. Jan Van den Bergh and Alex Schalk went off in the sixty-third minute alongside N. Ait Mouhou, while VVV-Venlo brought on P. Reulen, R. Paula and P. Gladon at the half-hour mark.
What matters in the table is the point spread. Breda sit eleventh with seven points from five games — two wins, one draw, two losses — while VVV-Venlo occupy seventh place with nine points from the same number of outings, three victories and two defeats.