Feyenoord gain upper hand

PSV Eindhoven 1-1 Feyenoord
The first leg of the all-Netherlands UEFA Cup quarter-final tie ended with honours even after a 1-1 draw, but Feyenoord will consider they have the advantage ahead of next week's return with PSV Eindhoven having scored an away goal at the Philips stadium.

Visitors go in front
The visitors took the lead in first-half injury time but had little time to dwell on that achievement as PSV struck back to equalise two minutes into the second half.

Third draw of the season
The outcome will not surprise followers of the Dutch Eredivisie, where the teams lie level in second place with the same number of points. Their previous two contests this season also both ended in draws.

Hard-fought game
Neither team can have any complaints about the outcome of a first leg which was predictably hard-fought and physical. PSV had the better of the second half and could have cause to regret their failure to score a second.

Early chance
Feyenoord showed no inhibitions and began promisingly when Robin van Persie was quick to exploit some defensive uncertainty, letting fly with a strong shot that came back off the outside of a post.   

Van Hooijdonk makes wrong choice
Pierre van Hooijdonk passed up a good opportunity on the half hour when a Van Persie cross found the big target man unmarked on the far post. For some reason he chose not to go for goal and as he angled his header square it was cleared.

Waterreus back
Van Hooijdonk was closer soon after when he stretched to get on the end of a Van Persie free-kick. This time Ronald Waterreus, back in goal after a long injury absence, was behind it and PSV were grateful that he was.

Chances at both ends
There was a furious bout of goalmouth action as the first half came to an end and it yielded the opening goal. First Van Persie launched himself for a diving header, while at the other end Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink got in a shot which was kept out by the goalkeeper's legs.

Killer finish
Then Jon Dahl Tomasson was not policed as carefully as he might have been and the Danish striker was able to get in a shot which cannoned back off Waterreus. The ball fell kindly for Van Hooijdonk but he still had to control a difficult volley and he did well to steer the ball away from a defender and into an empty net.

Kezman stays cool
It was more than PSV could have dreamed of to hit back so quickly in the second half but this is precisely what they did. Feyenoord will be kicking themselves that they permitted Mateja Kezman enough room to race away on to Mark van Bommel's hopeful forward pass. The Yugoslavian international always stayed in charge of the move and showed great composure to tuck away the equaliser.

PSV close to a second
PSV stayed on the front foot for the rest of the game and Kezman threatened to add to his score. Van Bommel was only just too high from a free-kick and in injury time it took a brave clearing header to deny Kevin Hofland his opportunity. Exciting stuff and it sets things up nicely for another furious encounter in seven days time.

'We deserved more'
Feyenoord coach Bert van Marwijk said: "As this was an away game in Europe we must be happy with a 1-1 draw but we deserved more after a professional display. PSV are a good team, but we did not give them the space they needed to create a lot of chances. I thought we were solid in the first half and continued after the break, although the midfield made one mistake and PSV scored from it. We definitely deserved more than a draw."

'Feyenoord showed more guts'
PSV coach Eric Gerets acknowledged that Feyenoord were the better team. "They showed more guts because they played an attacking game," he said. "Because of their system we were forced to play the long ball which didn't suit our style of play. Some of the players did not play as well as they can but we hope to be back on form next week."