PEC Zwolle drew 1-1 with Willem II after Sydney van Hooijdonk's penalty appeal was rejected.
Penalty appeal rejected
A few minutes before half-time, Van Hooijdonk went to ground at a corner after Willem II midfielder Calvin Twigt pulled him back with both arms. Referee Allard Lindhout did not award a penalty, and VAR Richard Martens did not send him to the monitor.
Van Hooijdonk told ESPN afterwards: “I honestly don't know what to say. I think it's absolutely outrageous. I don't know what words I'm allowed to use without getting a suspension.”
Van Hooijdonk questions the decision
Van Hooijdonk insisted that he had done nothing wrong and could not understand why Lindhout had not awarded a penalty: “For me, there's absolutely no doubt. What am I doing wrong? I'm going into a challenge that a defender probably goes into a million times a match, and he pulls me right back. I honestly can't understand how this isn't a penalty.”
Van Hooijdonk spoke to Lindhout several times after the incident, and the referee told him he had committed a foul first. Van Hooijdonk said: “If that's a foul by me, then every challenge is a foul. Defenders do this in every challenge, and if you do something small as an attacker, it's a foul. I think that's very unfair.”
Footage leaves him frustrated
The PEC Zwolle striker said: “This is exactly how I experienced it on the pitch. Sometimes you feel something on the pitch and then watch it back and think you experienced it differently. But this is exactly how I experienced it. Very strange.”
He added: “It would have been a great moment for a penalty, but it is what it is. I'll be disappointed about it today, but tomorrow we have to move on.” Van Hooijdonk also criticised the rest of the match: “I don't think you enjoyed the match with your popcorn.”
Early goals at both ends
Van Hooijdonk put PEC Zwolle 0-1 up in the second minute, and Hidde ter Avest equalised barely a minute later.
