Waalwijk vs Almere City FC 1-2

Almere City FC left Mandemakers Stadion with a 2-1 win after H. el Dahri’s first-half penalty and Ferdy Druijf’s second-half strike put them 2-0 up, before Juan Familia-Castillo pulled one back too late for Waalwijk.

The visitors went ahead in the 25th minute when H. el Dahri converted a penalty to make it 1-0, and that remained the score at half-time. Mees Hoedemakers and James Lawrence were booked before the interval.

Almere City FC made three changes on 58 minutes, with James Lawrence, Jochem Ritmeester Van De Kamp and Mees Hoedemakers all going off. Waalwijk then made two changes on 70 minutes, but Druijf doubled the lead in the 74th minute from H. el Dahri’s assist. Almere City FC made two more changes on 75 minutes, Waalwijk followed with two on 79 minutes, and Juan Familia-Castillo gave the home side hope in the 82nd minute from Jochem Nap’s assist, making it 1-2. Waalwijk used one final change in the 87th minute, but Almere City FC held on.

Waalwijk had 55% of the ball and 488 passes to Almere City FC’s 410, and also had more shots, 19 to 10, as well as more corners, 5 to 4. The visitors matched Waalwijk for shots on target at 4-4, had the better xG at 1.5 to 1.24, and forced 4 offsides while Waalwijk had none. Both sides finished with 3 saves, while Almere City FC committed 13 fouls to Waalwijk’s 8.

Almere City FC’s two bookings went to Mees Hoedemakers in the 31st minute and James Lawrence in the 41st. There were no red cards.