Day 1: Beautiful goals

The 65th edition of the Otten Cup started friday afternoon with the first matches in group A. On a hot and sunny Herdgang, four matches rich of goals were played. FC Barcelona was the only team to get a win on the day. All the other matches ended in a 2-2 draw.

Ajax - Borussia Mönchengladbach
Ajax unnecessarily dropped points against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The dutch side was clearly the better team before halftime and easily managed to take a 2-0 lead through goals of Rosheuvel and Schoop.

In the second half Ajax Captain Klaassen missed a 100% chance. Both teams also managed to hit aluminium. Eventually the defending champions managed to get back into the game scoring via a free kick. In the dying seconds they managed to get a draw. Bilal Sezer scoring with a powerful strike.

FC Twente - Sunderland
Although FC Twente got the better chances in the beginning, Sunderland managed to get the opening goal. A quick breakaway by Carl Lawson led to the 0-1. On the break of halftime Filip Orsula equalised 1-1.

It was again Filip Orsula who scored shortly after halftime, finishing a left sided attack with a shot in the near corner of the goal. With only five minutes to go Sunderland scored a beautiful equalizer. George Honeyman scored from the edge of the box in the top right corner of the goal. The match ended in 2-2.

Sparta Rotterdam - FC Barcelona
Barcelona started the Otten Cup very well. It beat Sparta Rotterdam 0-3, a score that was already reached in the first fifteen minutes.

Barcelona started furiously and scored within 2 minutes. After a corner kick Bakoyock headed the 0-1 into the net. Cornejo Sanchez doubled the lead after 10 minutes. After a beautiful attack Miguel Angel Sainz-Maza Lopez put Cornejo Sanchez free in front of the dutch goalie 0-2. He also managed to score the 0-3 with a header after 15 minutes. After this lead Barcelona played at a slower pace, allowing Sparta to get a few chances. In the second half Barcelona did not put in a lot of effort. Making 5 changes was not complementary to the spanish game. Even though both times managed to get a few good chances, but neather time scored a goal. Sparta Rotterdam was in this way lucky, not to suffer a heavier defeat.

Anderlecht - PSV
Within 4 minutes after kick off PSV scores it's first goal. A beautiful assist by Marcel Ritzmaier is put behind the keeper by Jurgen Locadia 1-0. PSV is not able enjoy the lead for long. A beautiful strike in the top right corner by Massimo Bruno equalizes for Anderlecht only three minutes later.

Another ten minutes later Elvio van Overbeek sprints away and his shot is only just deflected wide by the belgian goalkeeper. A little while later Dennis Praet controls the ball beautifully, but a quick reflection by Nigel Bertrams prevents Anderlecht taking the lead. The last chance in the first half is for PSV, but Memphis Depay, who recently signed his first professionnal contract with PSV, heads the ball just over the belgian goal. Halftime score is 1-1.

In the first 15 minutes of the second half, hardly anything happens until Jurgen Locadia gets into action. He turns away from his defender and scores with a power strike. 2-1 for PSV. After the goal again little action in front of both goals. Elvio van Overbeek tricks the Anderlecht defender and has a clear shot from the edge of the box. His shot only just misses the goal. Just when PSV thinks the three points are theirs for the taking, Anderlecht equalizes for the second time. Mehdi Tarfi's shot hits the far post and crosses the line. This strike is the last action of the game and for the third time today the final score is 2-2.

Dit bericht is gepubliceerd op zaterdag 6 augustus 2011 om 11:12 uur