Late Pepi Winner Secures Crucial Victory for PSV Over Twente

A dramatic last-gasp winning goal from Ricardo Pepi ensured that PSV stayed ten points clear of nearest challenger Feyenoord in the Eredivisie table. The United States international came off the bench to score the winner against FC Twente on Sunday night in the Phillips stadium.

After a dull first half, the match burst into action in the second half. The game was eventually decided due to two vital mistakes by FC Twente, whose keeper, Lars Unnerstal, had made some terrific saves to keep them in the match. PSV continued their unbeaten record this season in the Eredivisie.

Peter Bosz made two changes to the side that were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. Hirving Lozano and Andre Ramalho returned to the side, replacing Malik Tillman and Mauro Junior. Myron Boadu made his first start for Twente after joining them on a six-month loan deal in January from Monaco.

PSV hit the post after three minutes. With a certain amount of luck, the ball went perfectly into the path of Luuk de Jong. He slid and saw it come back off the post.

Twente was compact, and the home side found it difficult to create chances. Guus Til had one of the rare chances in the first half when Joey Veerman chipped the ball over the defence to him. But Til’s header was wayward. So wayward that Luuk de Jong, who stood nearby, wondered whether it was a cross or a goal attempt.

A brilliant one-two between Jerdy Schouten and De Jong resulted in both places having a chance to score in the 56th minute. Schouten’s effort was saved before De Jong headed the rebound wide.

The league leaders ramped up the pressure and could have scored again two minutes later. Johan Bakayoko put a perfect cross into the box for De Jong, who was shocked to see Twente goalkeeper Unnerstal keep his header out with a sublime save.

Both sides had come alive at this stage of the match as the away side created their first real chance of the game. Daan Rots played a deft pass to Ricky van Wolfswinkel, who had to slide to reach the ball, earning a corner as a result.

Oliver Boscagli played a beautiful pass to the far post in the match’s final stages to right-back Jordan Teze, who could not have struck the ball worse, sending it in the opposite direction of the goal.

PSV saw their unbeaten run flash before their eyes in injury time. The fans in the Phillips stadium held their breath as substitute Mitchell van Bergen had the whole PSV half to run into one-on-one with goalkeeper Walter Benitez. Benitez was able to save as the game went on to the next attack.

And that attack proved to be the most important one of the match. Young center-back Max Bruns, who had played a terrific match up to this point, made a mistake at the worst possible time. He lost the ball to De Jong, who played the ball across the box to Lozano. The Mexican winger missed it, leaving it to run through to Tillman, who set up his compatriot Pepi to scuff it home.

It was Pepi’s seventh goal off the bench this season. He is only the second-ever PSV player to score this many goals as a substitute in a single season. The only other was Erik Meijer in the 1994-95 season.

It was a welcome win for PSV after the disappointing midweek result against Borussia Dortmund. They remain ten points clear of Feyenoord who also won due to a late goal earlier on Sunday away to SC Heerenveen.

Twente was disappointed with the referee’s decision to disallow the goal scored by Boadu in the second half. The referee judged that the striker fouled Benitez from the corner. They are now four points ahead of AZ Alkmaar in third place, the last UEFA Champions League spot.