Fortuna Sittard vs Excelsior 1-0

Rodrigo Guth settled it for Fortuna Sittard in the 90th minute, heading in Mohammed Ihattaren’s assist three minutes into stoppage time for a 1-0 win over Excelsior.

The first half stayed goalless, although Fortuna lost Sven Simons before the interval after he was booked in the 41st minute and then replaced by Ole Romeny on 45 minutes. Excelsior also made a change at the break, sending on Ágúst Orri Thorsteinsson for Noah Naujoks. Half-time: Fortuna Sittard 0-0 Excelsior.

Excelsior changed again on 56 minutes when David Garden came on for Nesto Groen, while Fortuna then made two changes on 66 minutes, with Jasper Dahlhaus replacing Nick de Groot and Daley Sinkgraven coming on for Kristoffer Peterson. Shiloh 't Zand was booked on 58 minutes, and Irakli Yegoian was cautioned on 68 minutes. Excelsior made two more changes on 76 minutes, with Simon Janssen replacing Kasey Bos and Alireza Jahanbakhsh coming on for Aymen Sliti, before Fortuna brought on Mohammed Ihattaren for Philip Brittijn on 82 minutes and Iván Márquez for Edouard Michut on 86 minutes. Guth’s late strike after Ihattaren had been on the pitch for eight minutes gave Fortuna the only goal and protected a narrow lead to the end.

Excelsior had more of the ball with 57% possession and more passes, 535 to 389, but Fortuna had the better numbers where it mattered most, with seven shots to six, five on target to two, seven corners to four and a slightly higher xG at 0.45 to 0.41. Both sides committed 13 fouls, and each was caught offside twice. Fortuna’s goalkeeper made two saves, while Excelsior’s made three.

Fortuna Sittard received two yellow cards, for Sven Simons in the 41st minute and Shiloh 't Zand in the 58th. Excelsior had one booking, for Irakli Yegoian in the 68th minute. There was no red card.