Pro ShotsOndrej Lingr celebrates his goal
NOS Voetbal•gisteren, 21:58
Feyenoord is NEC’s opponent in the final of the KNVB cup tournament on Sunday, April 21 in De Kuip. The Rotterdam team defeated FC Groningen, the number six in the first division, 2-1 in the second semi-final, but it was not easy.
Laros Duarte gave the Groningers a deserved lead in the first half. Dávid Hancko made Feyenoord 1-1 sixteen minutes after half-time, after which substitute Ondrej Lingr scored the winning goal seven minutes before the end.
For Feyenoord, a thirteen-time cup winner, winning the cup is the only realistic chance of winning a prize this season. With ten points behind PSV, the national title seems out of sight and the European adventure of the Rotterdam team is over after the elimination by AS Roma in the Europa League.
Breached blazon
FC Groningen, once winner of the cup in 2015, uses the cup tournament to polish its damaged reputation. The club from the north has had an inky season with a lot of negativism, mutinous supporters and ultimately relegation from the Premier League after thirteen years at the highest level.
The two clubs have met each other four times before in the KNVB Cup. The Rotterdam team won three times, Groningen once. Their last cup meeting in the third round in the 2007/2008 season resulted in a 3-1 win for Feyenoord.
Pro ShotsAtmosphere in De Kuip
Without the ill Quilindschy Hartman and the suspended Santiago Gimenez, but with coach Arne Slot back in the dug-out with a cold, Feyenoord could not fulfill its role of favorite.
FC Groningen was not inferior to Feyenoord in the initial phase. Trainer Dick Lukkien had expressed the hope in advance that his team would dare to play football in possession of the ball. They did.
Duarte on the post
The Groningers got the first chance through Luciano Valente, who took advantage of a slide by Mats Wieffer and shot just wide. Ten minutes later Wieffer slipped away again. This time Duarte’s shot hit the post.
Feyenoord claimed a penalty in the nineteenth minute after an alleged handball by Groningen defender Marco Rente. But referee Danny Makkelie and the VAR ruled that it was the German’s back and not his arm.
After Igor Paixão just couldn’t get his head to a Yankuba Minteh cross in the 30th minute, the ball was in the other side a minute later. The deserved 0-1 came from the foot of star Duarte, whose shot deflected by Thomas Beelen left Feyenoord goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther without a chance.
Pro ShotsFC Groningen celebrates the 0-1
Feyenoord offered little in return offensively, and certainly no clear-cut opportunities. If it hit the sixteen meters, it was crowded with Groningen players. Marcos López, Hartman’s replacement, escaped a yellow card after a hard foul on Jorg Schreuders. Referee Makkelie did not intervene.
The Rotterdam team came out of the dressing room as a completely different team. In the second minute after half-time, Minteh saw a shot from close range saved by Groningen keeper Hidde Jurjus, after which left back Isak Määttä threw himself for the rebound from Bart Nieuwkoop who had come on at half-time.
Good running action Hancko
The equalizer seemed only a matter of time. Feyenoord pressed more and more. In the 55th minute, Minteh shot into the side netting from the right in a promising position. Five minutes later it happened. A beautiful turning cross from Calvin Stengs from the right was tapped in at the far post by the emerging defender Hancko after a good running action: 1-1.
Feyenoord then remained the team with the most drive and that paid off in the 83rd minute. Czech Lingr, who came on for the disappointing Ayase Ueda, slid in a cross from Luka Ivanusec, who came at half-time for Paixão, from the left for 2-1.
FC Groningen could not recover from that blow. Ivanusec and Minteh missed a huge chance to make it 3-1 in the ninetieth minute.
Feyenoord, which saw Stengs fall out injured, can call itself a cup finalist for the nineteenth time in club history – and for the first time since 2020.
Watch the reactions of Arne Slot, Dávid Hancko and Luciano Valente below: