ADO Den Haag escaped an early elimination in the TOTO KNVB Cup tournament on Tuesday evening to visit the amateurs of Excelsior ’31. The team of trainer Dirk Kuijt fell behind twice, but won 2-3. Earlier in the evening, FC Eindhoven won 1-0 against Willem II in front of its own audience.
By our sports editorsADO started the game dramatically with Excelsior ’31, which plays in the Third Division. The team from Rijssen in Overijssel already hit the bar in the second minute and took the lead after 28 minutes thanks to a goal by Jasper Veltkamp.
Before the break, ADO made it 1-1 with an own goal by Alex de Jong, but after two minutes in the second half, the home team took the lead again. Givan Werkhoven made the 2-1 against ADO, which is disappointingly thirteenth in the Kitchen Champion Division.
The introduction of Thomas Verheydt and Malik Sellouki ultimately turned out to be a golden opportunity for Kuijt. The pair converted a deficit into a 2-3 lead within five minutes. That score remained on the board – partly due to a hit by Excelsior ’31 that was rejected due to offside.
Just like ADO, FC Den Bosch had a hard time against an amateur team. The team of coach Jack de Gier won 1-3 against GVVV, which is at the top of the Derde Divisie. Halfway through, FC Den Bosch still faced a 1-0 deficit. For the opening goal, former FC Den Bosch player Barry Maguire provided the assist.
FC Eindhoven wins by early goal Kökçü
Ozan Kökçü scored the only goal at FC Eindhoven-Willem II after one minute and seventeen seconds. The older brother of Feyenoord captain Orkun Kökçü took advantage of Willem II’s poor defense and shot the ball flawlessly behind goalkeeper Joshua Smits.
Due to the 1-0 win over Willem II, FC Eindhoven reaches the second round for the first time since the 2019/2020 season. At the time, the ‘Blauw-Witten’ stranded in the eighth finals after an extension against FC Utrecht. In the following years, FC Eindhoven was immediately eliminated by FC Emmen and DVS ’33.
Almere City-TOP Oss, the other cup game between two Kitchen Champion Division teams, ended in a 2-0 win for the team from Almere. Telstar (0-1 at HFC) and De Graafschap (1-3 at Rijnsburgse Boys) made no mistake against an amateur club. Urk-Staphorst ended in 2-0.
Tuesday was the first day of the first round of the TOTO KNVB Cup tournament. The other games will be played on Wednesday and Thursday. Cup holder PSV, Ajax, Feyenoord, AZ and FC Twente have been released for the first round because of their European participation.
Programma TOTO KNVB Beker-toernooi (dinsdag)
- FC Eindhoven-Willem II 1-0
- Almere City-TOP Oss 2-0
- Excelsior ’31-ADO 2-3
- GVVV-FC Den Bosch 1-3
- Harkemase Boys-FC Volendam 1-5
- HFC-Telstar 0-1
- Hoek-sc Heerenveen 2-4
- Rijnsburgse Boys-De Graafschap 1-3
- Urk-Staphorst 2-0
- Roda JC-Heracles Almelo (nog bezig)
View the program and the results in the TOTO KNVB Cup
