Feyenoord Falls to KVC Westerlo Despite Van Persie Jr Goal

Behind closed doors and away from the weekend noise of the Eredivisie, Feyenoord suffered a 2-1 friendly defeat to Belgian side KVC Westerlo on Monday, despite an eye-catching strike from Shaqueel van Persie.

The young forward, son of club legend Robin van Persie, gave the Rotterdammers an early lead. He reacted sharply to a Sem Steijn corner, losing his marker and finishing decisively to cap a well-worked set piece. For a moment, it looked like the afternoon would belong to him.

Westerlo had other ideas. The Belgians levelled before half-time and gradually wrestled control of the game. Feyenoord, who started with the players that had been on the bench during Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Go Ahead Eagles, never quite found a consistent rhythm.

On the touchline, it was Sipke Hulshoff and Saïd Bakkati directing operations rather than Giovanni van Bronckhorst, with the assistant duo using the match to hand minutes to squad players and fringe options.

The pattern shifted again after the break. Casper Tengstedt and Jivayno Zinhagel came on for Van Persie and Jordan Lotomba, while around the hour mark Luka Ivanusec replaced Gonçalo Borges on the right wing. The changes freshened Feyenoord up, but Westerlo struck the decisive blow after the restart to turn the game around.

The closing stages brought chances. Twice Tengstedt found himself in promising positions to wipe out the 2-1 deficit. Twice the finish was missing. With that, Feyenoord walked off with a narrow defeat and a few lingering frustrations.

Now the friendly is done, the stakes rise again. After dropping costly points in the 2-2 draw with Go Ahead Eagles, Feyenoord head to promoted SC Cambuur on Sunday. Cambuur are still searching for their first point of the season after two rounds. Feyenoord can hardly afford to leave any more on the table.