Arnold Kruiswijk ended a 15-year wait for a goal as Vitesse hammered Sparta Rotterdam 5-0.
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Sparta arrived in Arnhem full of confidence after the wins over NEC and Feyenoord, but they were brought back down to earth in a first half which saw Vitesse run riot.
On 22 minutes, Ricky van Wolfswinkel intercepted a poor back-header by Denzel Dumfries before slotting past Ryan Korsmit and Navarone Foor added a second ten minutes later. Then with five minutes left Kruiswijk netted a historic header from inside the box which ended his 15 year (25318 minute) wait for a goal in the Dutch top flight.
Vitesse saved their best for just before the break with Marvelous Nakamba finishing off a slick team move to make it 4-0.
The hosts took their foot off the gas in the second half and only added another one to the scoreline as Guram Kashia slotted in from close range on the hour mark. Before the end Henk Fraser substituted Kruiswijk in order for the 32-year-old to earn a standing ovation from the home crowd, who chanted “Arnold in Oranje” after his goal.
The victory takes Vitesse up to fifth while Sparta remain fourteenth.
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Get van wolfswinkel in the national squad instead of de Jong !
Sadly I agree, as a reserve striker he’s a better option than De Jong at the moment.
Hate to say it as it’s a sign as to how bad things have gotten. Besides Dost, outside the Eredivisie there’s not a single Dutch striker playing regular starting football in a top (or even mid-tier) European league. And I include RVP and Huntelaar in that, who have only been coming off the bench sporadically.