Telstar beat FC Utrecht 4-2 as Anthony Correia returns to his former club

A painful return for Correia

Telstar beat FC Utrecht 4-2 on Sunday afternoon, 1 November, at the BUKO stadium, the former Sportpark Schoonenberg, in Velsen-Zuid. For coach Anthony Correia it was a bitter return to the club where he won promotion to the Eredivisie two seasons ago and then kept the side in the top flight. Utrecht, currently 11th in the Eredivisie, started slowly and never recovered, falling behind 2-0 before the 25th minute. The hosts attacked with energy and pace, and Utrecht struggled to cope with them for most of the first half.

The goals

Tyrone Owusu opened the scoring in the 8th minute, reaching a rebound after Utrecht goalkeeper Sergio Padt had parried a weak shot from Nökkvi Thórisson. Abdelnour Soualhia doubled the lead with a header from a corner in the 25th minute. Telstar also hit the woodwork through Emirhan Demircan, a player on loan to Utrecht, and had a Thórisson goal disallowed for offside. Correia made two changes in the 36th minute, bringing on Ángel Alarcón and Per Kloosterboer, and Alarcón soon pulled one back to 2-1 from a cross by Marius Broholm. Thórisson restored the two-goal cushion before half-time, making it 3-1.

Second half and Telstar's finish

Yoann Cathline reduced the deficit to 3-2 within a minute of the restart, briefly giving Utrecht hope. Utrecht then took the initiative for roughly ten minutes and created several chances to equalise, but Telstar kept countering. After about an hour, Ar'jany Martha finished a fast break on a pass from Thórisson to make it 4-2. Telstar's players celebrated with the home crowd, while Correia sat in the Utrecht dug-out and at one point closed his eyes. After the fourth goal, Utrecht hardly threatened again and the match was effectively over.

Standings and squad changes

Telstar took three important points in the battle against relegation and ended a run of ten matches without a win. The club now sits seven points clear of last-placed Willem II. After just over half an hour, Correia had already replaced backs Siebe Horemans and Arthur Zagré, and Oualid Agougil did not return for the second half. The last time Telstar scored four goals in an Eredivisie match came in a home game against Sparta, when Correia was still Telstar's coach.