PSV Eindhoven raised their game in the second half to see off Utrecht and keep their title chances alive.
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PSV Eindhoven have been notoriously slow starters in the Eredivisie so far this season and once again they began sluggishly on Sunday. Utrecht began brightly and on 21 minutes they thought they had the lead when Nacer Barazite finished off a fine team move, but the linesman wrongly raised his flag to rule it out.
After that scare, PSV gradually improved and Marco van Ginkel had two great chances to give the hosts the lead before the break. Firstly the midfielder sent a header wide with the goal gaping and soon afterwards Van Ginkel raced through on goal, but couldn’t finish past David Jensen.
At half time Phillip Cocu decided to withdraw the disappointing Gaston Pereiro for Steven Bergwijn. The sub almost made an instant impact as he set up Luuk de Jong early in the second half, but the striker saw his strike saved by Jensen.
On 53 minutes, De Jong did find the net as his looping header from Andres Guardado’s corner beat Jensen. Two minutes later, De Jong turned provider as his cross found Bergwijn in the box and the winger made no mistake with his finish to make it 2-0.
Davy Propper nearly netted a goal of the season contender just after the hour mark but his excellent strike from distance came crashing back off the crossbar. At the other end, Utrecht remained dangerous with Barazite sending a free kick just over the bar, while Richairo Zivkovic was denied by a great defensive header from Joshua Brenet.
In stoppage time, PSV made sure of the win and it was Van Ginkel who netted the third with a lovely volley from the edge of the box. The win keeps PSV in contention for the title in third while Utrecht drop to fifth.
Watch highlights of the game below!
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