” href=”https://www.fcupdate.nl/voetballers/kaj-sierhuis”>Kaj Sierhuis explains afterwards that the referee failed the Limburg formation at two crucial moments in the match.
Van der Eijk had a difficult evening. He handed out red cards to Justin Hubner (Fortuna Sittard) and Youri Baas (Ajax), among others. Sierhuis acknowledges in conversation with reporter Cristian Willaert van ESPN that emotions occasionally ran high among the players of Fortuna Sittard. “I have no problem at all when a referee makes human mistakes,” begins the striker, who himself made the 1-0 in the opening phase.
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Sierhuis then points out two misses by Van der Eijk: “Just before the score is 1-1, I think we should get a corner on a shot by Edouard Michut. There he gives a back ball. That is a very slight deflection. That can happen. We have to ensure that we do better and do not concede that 1-1.”
Sierhuis is very angry about the way Van der Eijk waved away a foul by Ko Itakura just seconds before Hubner was sent off for a hard tackle on Rayane Bounida: “What irritated me and what I really don’t understand is that a referee today – and I don’t know if that happens more often now – waits a long time before blowing the whistle during a main incident.”
Sierhuis points to a similar incident in the first half with teammate Iván Márquez: “I feel like it took far too long for the referee to intervene, while he has a serious head injury. And also in the run-up to the red card for Hubner… You can give Hubner a red card, I have no problem with that. But a very clear foul is being committed against me,” says the attacker.
“I played with Itakura (at FC Groningen, ed.), so that is not a hostile moment at all, but he does use his elbow to hit me in the neck,” Sierhuis continues. “My neck then stiffens completely and it is still very stiff. So I stay down and stabilize my own neck. I think a referee should intervene immediately and stop the game so that medical help can arrive. These are apparently errors of judgment. But I have a lot of difficulty with that.”
