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PSV could have extended their lead at the top of the Eredivisie, after nearest rivals Feyenoord suffered a 2-1 shock defeat against Excelsior on Friday night and Ajax were held 1-1 by N.E.C. in Nijmegen on Sunday afternoon. However, PSV put in a lacklustre performance against VVV-Venlo and were eventually forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Andre Wetzel's team who were reduced to ten men on the half-hour mark.
PSV had realised beforehand that they could not take anything for granted, as VVV-Venlo had already achieved stunning results at De Koel this season before. They home side had shared honours with Ajax (2-2) and Feyenoord (0-0) and seen off Vitesse 2-0 and were keen to extend their unbeaten run of six matches in a row. Sef Vergoossen's team could not make their numerical advantage count after the break. They piled up the pressure and created four decent chances to grab all three points, but VVV-Venlo stopper Wintjes pulled off a string of fine saves to keep his team in the game and the hosts bravely held firm in an entertaining game of football. Sef Vergoossen will have plenty of food for thought after he saw his side drop two precious points.
Only two minutes were on the clock when Rachid Ofrany gave the home side the perfect start. The VVV-Venlo forward rounded Alcides, before creating some space and unleashing a superb lob that sailed over PSV keeper Gomes and into the roof of the net: 1-0. PSV increased the pressure and were rewarded for their dominance after twelve minutes, when new signing Dzsudzsák opened his scoring account for the Eindhoven outfit. Afellay put Farfán clear with a clever through ball and the Hungarian winger was on hand to tap home the Peruvian's perfect cross from the right flank at the second post; 1-1. Auassar hit the bar with a header and Lazovic wasted a great chance when he failed to connect properly with a cross. The hosts were reduced to ten men after 32 minutes when defender Peter Reekers was sent off for his second bookable offence, a vicious flying tackle on Gomes. PSV did not create any chances of note in the final fifteen minutes of the opening period.
The second was a low-key affair until PSV put up a gear against ten-man VVV-Venlo. The pressure seemed to pay off and Ibrahim Afellay came close to scoring the winning goal, but the international only hit the post. Bakkal almost had PSV in front after he had rounded the keeper, but a late goal line clearance by the VVV-Venlo defence kept the score at 1-1. Vergoossen made a double substitution after 73 minutes. He brought on PSV's leading scorer Koevermans for Lazovic in a bid to grab all three points in the closing stages, while Zonneveld left the bench to replace Alcides. During the hectic closing stages Kromkamp headed straight at Wintjens and Koevermans had a penalty appeal waved away by the referee.
