Alfred Finnbogason’s hat-trick inspired Heerenveen to a 5-2 win over joint bottom RKC Waalwijk on Friday night.
- By Michael Bell
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The home side dominated from the start but it took until the 34th minute for the first goal to come, as Kenny Otigba poked in a Hakim Ziyech free-kick.
Early in the second half Finnbogason was pulled down in the box, and the striker picked himself up to fire the penalty into the roof of the net.
Just after the hour Finnbogason netted his second as he turned in Luciano Slagveer’s shot after Ziyech cut the ball back across goal.
On 72 minutes RKC had a lifeline when Jean-David Beauguel turned in a cut back from the edge of the box, but their joy was short lived as Slagveer cut through the defence before being chopped down. The resulting penalty saw Finnbogason net his hat-trick, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way to make it 4-1.
Finnbogason’s hat-trick grabs the headlines, but Ziyech was the star of the game, and he capped his excellent performance by chipping the goalkeeper from 30 yards to make it 5-1. Watch the outstanding goal here.
In the final minute Michael Lamey headed in from a corner to reduce the deficit to 5-2, but there was still time for Ingo van Weert to receive his second yellow, and condemn a miserable night for RKC.
The win stopped the rot of three straight league defeats for Marco van Basten’s men, and lifts them up to ninth.