Excelsior feel hard done by after a controversial penalty incident in their draw with Ajax. Irakli Yegoian claims he was kicked in the face by Youri Baas, an action that referee Jannick van der Laan did not award a penalty for and the VAR did not intervene on.
The Rotterdam side picked up a point in Amsterdam on Saturday, keeping them in seventh place in the Eredivisie with ten points from six matches. The 2-2 scoreline was achieved through goals from Julian Brandt and Tolu Arokodare for Ajax, and Lennard Hartjes and Aymen Sliti for Excelsior. Sliti's equaliser came after an assist from Yegoian.
Yegoian collided with Ajax's Youri Baas in the second half. The Excelsior player says he was even left with some blood from the incident. "I got a nice kick in the face," Yegoian reacted afterwards. "I even had a little blood left over from it, but I'm fine now." He was convinced it should have been a clear penalty.
Opinion was divided in the ESPN studio. Danny Koevermans felt Ajax got away lightly. "Ajax comes away very well here. Baas kicks him in his face, even though he does touch a bit of the ball." Koevermans referenced a red card shown to Joey Veerman in the Johan Cruijff Shield for a similar incident. Analyst Bram van Polen had his doubts but could live with the referee's decision.
The debate over the incident highlights the frustration at Excelsior over two dropped points. The team of manager Marinus Dijkhuizen now looks ahead to their next match, a home fixture against Groningen on October 11th. The full Excelsior squad is preparing for that important encounter, with current form of two wins, two draws and one loss in the last five games providing confidence. The season's results show a team consistently picking up points.
Further reading: Voetbal International
