Undeserved defeat of Young FC Utrecht against Excelsior

It was about the only shot between the posts that the Rotterdam team delivered, on a windy Zoudenbalch. Young FC Utrecht, with the first team players Remco Balk, Tommie St. Jago and Othmane Boussaid in the base, had the initiative for large parts of the match, but was actually only dangerous from a distance.

Mees Rijks, Othmane Boussaid and Remco Balk always found Excelsior goalkeeper Stijn van Gassel in their way during their attempts. “We were better, but we created too little in the sixteen”, said Darije Kalezic afterwards.

‘We have created too few real opportunities’

The only goal of the game seemed to be a mistake by goalkeeper Kevin Gadellaa. He didn’t process a cross well, after which the ball fell at Niemeijer’s feet, who made an effective strike. “He could indeed have done it differently,” said coach Kalezic. “But the big problem was that that player was so free.”

The goalkeeper mostly agreed with that last point. “I don’t think I did it wrong. I got a cross out, but that boy was completely free.”

‘My dream is to win a prize with FC Utrecht’

The more than two meters long goalkeeper started playing football at PVCV in Vleuten and was discovered by PSV at an early age. He played there until 2017. He then played three seasons in Vitesse’s training, before joining FC Utrecht in 2020.

“My big dream is to play in the stadium and win a prize with FC Utrecht,” says Gadellaa, who signed a new contract last week.

Jong FC Utrecht is now thirteenth in the first division, with 28 points from 27 matches. Excelsior, trained by former FC Utrecht player Marinus Dijkhuizen, climbs to third place in the ranking due to the victory. On Friday, the Utrecht promises will play against TOP Oss.