Everything that could have gone wrong for the reigning Dutch Cup winners happened in this year’s final, and the advantage from the first half was not enough for Ajax to win the third consecutive Cup trophy. With a turnaround in the second half, PSV reached the first Cup trophy after 2012 and thus confirmed that they are capable of harming the giant from the nation’s capital.At the beginning of the season, the team from Eindhoven celebrated at the Johan Cruyff Arena and won the Super Cup. Back then, the supersonic Noni Maudueke was brilliant (4-0), meanwhile, the team of Erik ten Hag fought back with two victories in the championship, worthy of the league’s summit (four points more than the first runner-up five rounds before the end), but when playing for the trophy, for a place in history – then the glory goes to the team of the departing coach Roger Schmidt.In the showpiece at Rotterdam’s De Kuip stadium, Ajax may have been better, created more chances in the first half, however, at the beginning of the second half, the league champions showed their worst and PSV gave their best. Cody Gakpo, the captain, became the hero of his team. He first took a free-kick, after which the ball ended up with Eric Gutierrez and the Mexican sent it into the net for his first goal in the PSV shirt after two and a half years. It is not the job of the defensive midfielder to shake the net, but he showed up when the team needed him the most.As soon as Ajax took the ball from the center, still shocked from conceding a goal, they lost sight of Gakpo, the winger justified his captaincy, ran into the opponent’s defense, tricked Edson Alvarez and Davi Klaassen, shot an arrow behind Martin Stekelenburg and turned the score around. A total of 18 goals in the season, this one being the most important, as it brought a trophy. PSV’s first in the Dutch Cup after ten years when they defeated Heracles 3-0 at Feyenoord Stadium.They also interrupted Ajax’s series of three victories over PSV in the cup finals. Despite the fact that the team from Amsterdam opened the match better in front of the crowded stands, took the lead with a goal by Ryan Gravenberch (he scored the leading goal in the showpiece last year against Vitesse), acted authoritatively and probably wondered if some cosmic forces conspired against them. Just before going on the halftime break, Mazraoui’s goal was annulled, at 2-1, and the VAR ruled that Klaassen was offside before he shook the net.KNVB BEKERFinalSundayPSV – Ajax 2-1 (0-1)/Gutierrez 48, Gakpo 50 – Gravenberch 23/***odds are subject to change
