Van Bommel and Pepi fire PSV to 2-1 win at Excelsior

PSV earned their first Eredivisie victory of the season with a 2-1 win away to Excelsior, recovering from the previous weekend’s 2-2 draw against Fortuna Sittard. Ruben van Bommel and Ricardo Pepi scored for the reigning champions at Woudestein.

Van Bommel gave PSV the lead after only five minutes, cutting in and finishing with his right foot. It was the winger’s first goal since scoring against Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League the previous September. He has only recently returned from a serious knee injury that kept him out for several months.

Excelsior drew level after the interval when Swedish defender Casper Widell headed home. The hosts’ equaliser was quickly answered, however, as Pepi restored PSV’s advantage following good work from Sergiño Dest. Dest and Joey Veerman were both back in Peter Bosz’s starting side after serving suspensions.

Summer signing Kodai Sano made his PSV debut shortly after the hour mark, replacing Paul Wanner. The former NEC player later had a chance to extend the lead, but goalkeeper Stijn van Gassel denied him. Excelsior also gave a debut to Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who entered in the 74th minute. The Rotterdam side created late opportunities to equalise, but PSV protected their narrow advantage and took all three points.