PSV Eindhoven threw away a two goal lead as they were held to a 3-3 draw by Groningen in the Euroborg.

After the 3-0 defeat in Amsterdam, Phillip Cocu returned to a 4-3-3 with Luuk de Jong, Bart Ramselaar and Steven Bergwijn coming into the starting line-up in place of Jurgen Locadia, Gaston Pereiro and Derrick Luckassen.

The leaders dominated from the start and took the lead on seven minutes when Marco van Ginkel unleashed a strike from distance, which Sergio Padt got a hand on but couldn’t keep out. Less than ten minutes later, the lively Ramselaar justified his selection by racing onto Bergwijn’s through ball before slotting in PSV’s second goal.

PSV completely dominated the opening stages but on the half-hour mark, Oussama Idrissi won a free-kick just outside the box and Yoell van Nieff curled it past Jeroen Zoet to make it 2-1. The goal lifted Groningen and they nearly equalised two minutes later with Jesper Drost hammering a shot just over the bar.

On 36 minutes, Hirving Lozano was brought down in the box by Django Warmerdam and van Ginkel dispatched the spot-kick into the top corner to restore PSV’s two-goal lead.

The hosts made a double change at the break with Mimoun Mahi and Lars Veldwijk coming on and it made an instant impact. Groningen put the pressure on and were rewarded a penalty on 53 minutes for a handball by van Ginkel. Veldwijk calmly slotted in the penalty to make it 3-2.

The momentum was with Groningen for the rest of the second half and Zoet had to come to his side’s rescue on several occasions, while at the other end Bergwijn couldn’t apply the finish after racing through on goal.

Deep into four minutes of added time, PSV failed to clear a Mahi cross and Mike te Wierik steered in the equaliser. There was still time for one more PSV attack and the ball dropped to van Ginkel in the box, but the midfielder’s hooked effort was too weak to beat Padt.

PSV remain just five points above AZ at the top, while Ajax have the chance to close the gap on Thursday. Groningen are 12th.




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