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A fantastic hat-trick from Ismael Saibari helped PSV pick up a significant victory 2-3 in the top-of-the-table Eredivisie clash away to Feyenoord on Sunday. Luciano Valente and Oussama Targhellini scored the home side’s goals in what was a thrilling match. The victory means that PSV are now level on points with Feyenoord in the Eredivisie table. However, the Rotterdammers remain top due to a superior goal difference. Feyenoord captain Sem Steijn was demoted to the bench by Robin van Persie. The other change to the side that beat Greek team Panathinaikos in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday was the return of Tsuyoshi Watanabe, who replaced Gijs Smal in the center-back position. Sergino Dest returned to the PSV lineup. The U.S. right back had been dropped for the game against Napoli in the midweek as a punishment for being late. He replaced Ryan Flamingo, who returned to the bench. The kick-off of the game was delayed for 15 minutes due to an overload of confetti on the pitch. The confetti had ended up on the pitch as part of the player’s entrance, organized by Feyenoord. This led to two men coming onto the pitch with leaf blowers to get rid of the confetti. When the game did finally kick off, it was cagey. Both teams were careful not to take too many risks during the opening stages of the game, resulting in very few chances. But the first significant chance, which was for PSV, led to the first goal. Mauro Junior took Hwang In-Beom out of the equation with a lovely turn before continuing his run and finding Ismael Saibari in the box. Saibari cut inside the slide tackle of Watanabe before finishing the chance perfectly with the outside of his boot. Feyenoord, who had a request to delay the kick-off time to 9 p.m., denied by the Dutch football association (KNVB), were second best throughout the first half, with PSV missing another few chances to make it 2-0. Saibari found space in the box again when Anass Salah-Eddine played a good pass to him, but instead of shooting, he decided to lay it off to Guus Til. This proved to be the wrong decision as Til’s effort was blocked. Another chance came later on when a good cross to the far post was hooked towards the Feyenoord goal by Ivan Perisic, while defender Yaser Gasiorowksi was in a better position behind the Croat. Feyenoord equalized in the 50th minute. Luciano Valente received the ball in his own half, carried it all the way to the edge of the PSV penalty area before shooting low and hard into the corner for his first goal for the club since joining from FC Groningen last summer. Although this scoreline was extremely short-lived. The visitors went on the attack straight from kick off, and it led to Saibari getting his second with another terrific finish. The Moroccan hit the shot into the net via the inside of the post with his weaker foot to put the Eindhovenaren back in the lead within a minute. Shortly after this, the game was delayed for eight minutes due to a medical emergency in the stadium. ESPN reported that a fan had fallen in the stadium. The game eventually restarted, with Saibari getting his third in the 60th minute, and this one may have been the pick of the bunch. A long ball was poorly dealt with by Anel Ahmedhozic, and Saibari took full advantage with a terrific lob over Feyenoord goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther. Feyenoord got a goal back in the 73rd minute. PSV failed to clear their lines, and Oussama Targhalline made them pay with a well-struck volley into the far corner. This brought the crowd in De Kuip back on their feet, and it showed with Van Persie’s team piling on the pressure. They should have equalized in the 76th minute. A long throw from Gijs Smal was knocked across the box by Aymen Sliti to Valente, who put the ball just wide of the goal when it should have been converted. Feyenoord had another significant chance to equalize in the second minute of injury time. A corner from Sem Steijn found Cyle Larin in the box, but the Canadian put the header wide of the goal.
