FC Twente beats Excelsior 9-0 after early red card, with Weghorst scoring four

Red card before the first half ends

FC Twente beat Excelsior 0-9 on Sunday afternoon, 1 November, in Rotterdam, and the match was largely settled before the interval. Referee Erwin Blank showed Nesto Groen a red card in the fifth minute after the striker caught FC Twente captain Robin Pröpper in the chest with a high leg. Excelsior, on 11 points, had to play the rest of the match with ten men. FC Twente, fourth in the Eredivisie table on 23 points, kept the pressure on from that point onward, and the Rotterdam side was pinned back for long spells under coach Ruben den Uil.

Weghorst and the goals before half time

Wout Weghorst opened the scoring in the twelfth minute, heading home a cross from Sondre Ørjasæter. Thomas van den Belt's goal in the 27th minute was disallowed for offside after a VAR check, which kept Excelsior on level terms for a little longer on the scoreboard. Weghorst then added two more goals in quick succession, completing a hat-trick, and Daan Rots also found the net before the break. Van den Belt made it 0-4 in the 39th minute after a costly error by Aymen Sliti, and the first half ended 0-5 for the visitors.

Second half and the final score

Jordy Bawuah, who came on at half time, scored shortly after the restart from a pass by Ørjasæter, his fifth assist of the match. Two penalties followed after fouls on Noah Naujoks and Rick Meissen. Weghorst converted one of them for his fourth goal of the afternoon, and Ramiz Zerrouki scored from the other spot. Rots added the ninth goal with about ten minutes left to play. No further goals followed, and the score stayed at 0-9 until the final whistle.

What the scoreline means

NOS noted that a goal-free finish would have set a new Eredivisie record for FC Twente, and that the club had previously matched its record wins of 1975 and 1977, both 8-0 against De Graafschap and FC Utrecht. The reports in this cluster describe the 9-0 margin as the biggest win ever in professional Dutch football, with Excelsior's heaviest defeat on the same afternoon. Ørjasæter's five assists and Weghorst's four goals were the two main individual contributions on the day, while Excelsior's red card ended any realistic hope of a comeback from the fifth minute on.