PSV back on top after a crazy finish in Groningen

On 14 May 2025, a midweek round of matches in the Eredivisie was on the program on Wednesday evening. PSV played at home against Heracles Almelo and ahead of this 33rd matchday had a points deficit behind Ajax.

A few days earlier, on Sunday 11 May, Peter Bosz’s team won after a spectacular comeback with 2-3 at De Kuip and saw that their rivals Ajax surprisingly lost 0-3 at home to NEC. As a result, the lead of the Amsterdammers had shrunk to a single point, and for Francesco Farioli’s team the tough away match at Euroborg against FC Groningen was on the calendar.

PSV had no trouble at home against Heracles Almelo. At halftime, Bosz’s team were already leading 4-0 thanks to goals from Malik Tillman and Ismael Saibari. As a result, the PSV crowd quickly turned their attention to Groningen, where the match FC Groningen - Ajax was on the schedule.

In the first half, the Amsterdammers went ahead via a hard attack by wing-back Anton Gaaei to make it 0-1, which meant Farioli’s team was still, in practice, the table leader. Seven minutes after the break, it was Thom van Bergen who brought the score to 1-1 in the Euroborg, thereby making PSV, in practice, the outright leader.

This goal led to an explosion of joy at the Philips Stadium, where PSV at that time was still leading 4-0. In the 68th minute, Ajax went ahead 1-2 through Wout Weghorst, and with that the Amsterdammers were once again virtually top.

In the Philips Stadium no rooster crowed at the fact that Heracles Almelo in the 75th minute managed to bring the final score to 4-1 since all the focus was on Groningen. Ajax seemed to be heading for a hard-fought win there, especially after midfielder Luciano Valente received a red card in stoppage time from referee Jeroen Manschot following a heavy tackle on Jordan Henderson.

A scuffle after this tackle caused the extra time in this match (six minutes) to last longer, and in the 98th minute Groningen were awarded a free kick after a foul by defender Josip Sutalo near the edge of the penalty area. This free kick ultimately found FC Groningen defender Thijmen Blokzijl, who managed to get a touch on the ball and, in the 99th minute, made it 2-2, meaning PSV was therefore back in first place.

This strike caused an explosion at the Euroborg and at the Philips Stadium, too, there was plenty of cheering when the message arrived with the supporters still behind that the Groningers had drawn level in stoppage time. In the 102nd minute, Ajax still had a chance to make it 2-3 via Owen Wijndal, but the left-back’s shot went wide of the goal and after the final save by goalkeeper Ettiene Vaessen, referee Manschot blew his whistle and PSV entered the last matchday as league leaders.