PSV recorded its first Champions League victory in eight years on Wednesday evening. The Eindhoven team won 1-0 at home against ten of Lens and are still in the race for wintering in the million-dollar ball.
Captain De Jong, in his characteristic manner – broke the ban for PSV with his head. The striker headed in after eleven minutes on a pass from Johan Bakayoko. The Eindhoven team had a dream start in a crucial match for the Champions League wintering, but before half time they did not have an easy time against the current number ten of France.
After the break, PSV missed several great opportunities to decide the match through Hirving Lozano and Johan Bakayoko. The French, who ended up with ten men after a late red card from Morgan Guilavogui, stayed in the match and even hit the post in the final phase. Nevertheless, the Eindhoven team won the important victory in a swirling Philips Stadium.
PSV achieved its first Champions League victory since 2015, when CSKA Moscow was beaten 2-1 in the Philips Stadium. Thanks to the victory, PSV is in second place in Group B after four rounds. Bosz’s team will play the away match against last-place Sevilla in three weeks, which lost 2-0 to Arsenal. PSV will be back in action in the Eredivisie on Sunday. The leader will then play at home against PEC Zwolle.
De Jong equals Van Nistelrooij
It was expected that Guus Til would start as an attacking midfielder at PSV after his impactful substitute against Ajax (5-2) and good performance against Heracles (0-6). Malik Tillman was therefore on the bench, unlike in the away match against RC Lens (1-1).
Because the Eindhoven team did not get further than a draw in that match, the home match against the French was more or less a do-or-die match for wintering in the million-dollar ball. PSV got off to a flying start. After Lens striker Elye Wahi appeared dangerous early on, the Eindhoven team struck at their first chance.
Bakayoko put the ball on De Jong’s head, after which the heading specialist nodded home via the underside of the crossbar. It was De Jong’s eighth Champions League goal for PSV, equaling record holder Ruud van Nistelrooij. The fact that PSV was on a roll early on did not bode well for an easy first half for Bosz’s team.
PSV misses opportunities
PSV had a hard time at times with Lens, who had their best chance through Deiver Machado just before half-time. The left back fired over from a promising position. PSV created a number of shooting opportunities before the break, but the attempts of Lozano, Joey Veerman and Sergiño Dest lacked power.
After the break, Bosz’s team took more control of the initiative. Lozano had the opportunity to score no fewer than four times, but the Mexican did not have his sights set and was a bit selfish on one occasion. And Bakayoko also failed to score cleanly on his two goal chances. PSV therefore missed opportunities to gain a bigger lead.
As a result, it remained exciting for PSV for a long time. The team gave away few chances, but did succumb to a ball on Guilavogui’s post in the final phase. In the final phase, the same Guilavogui had to leave with his second yellow card – of which no fewer than ten were handed out in total – after which PSV took the deserved victory.
3:11Summary: PSV beats Lens in heated match (1-0)
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