The curtain seems to have fallen for FC Groningen

Relegation to the Eerste Divisie is becoming more and more important. At Sittard there was a lot of pressure on coach Dennis van der Ree and his players. Knowing that Emmen had won. But instead of starting abruptly, troubled Pride of the North were already down 1-0 within five minutes. It wasn’t the first time this season that an early deficit was a fact. Thanks to Ragnar Oratmangoen’s stupid loss of possession.

FC Groningen didn’t even play that badly in the rest of the game, but there was no bite. The home team dropped out and were much more efficient. Incidentally, Groningen were unlucky a few times when Elvis Manu twice saw a hit disallowed for offside. Shortly before the break, the festival of errors continued. Oratmangoen caused trouble for keeper Verrips with a tricky back pass, which sent the keeper straight into the opponent’s feet. Verrips made the first save, but didn’t have a chance with Cordoba’s rebound.

Fifteen minutes from the end, FC Groningen was still paid for their work thanks to Ricardo Pepi’s tenth goal of the season, but it didn’t go any further. The eighteenth defeat of the season had to be swallowed. Uncertainty continues to grow. Knowing that of the remaining seven duels, perhaps five complete victories are needed, whereas under Van der Ree exactly one victory has been achieved in thirteen duels. The straw gets thinner every week.

On Friday night, FC Groningen will meet struggling FC Utrecht at their own Euroborg. The question is, will Van der Ree be sitting on the couch? The only option to force something seems to be a coaching change. After all, the selection can no longer be changed. After Utrecht there are still home games against NEC, Ajax and Sparta and can visit RKC Waalwijk, Go Ahead Eagles and Vitesse.