PSV take giant step towards title as superb Saibari knocks out FC Utrecht

[p]After failing to grab the Eredivisie title with two losses in the previous two rounds, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/psv/M9UEHJWi/"]PSV[/a] got a third shot to win the league with a win against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/utrecht/p6QXMgOj/"]FC Utrecht[/a]. Feyenoord would also need to drop points against FC Volendam on Sunday.[/p][p][b]With Fulham target [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pepi-ricardo/GE8fEuGS/"]Ricardo Pepi[/a] on the bench and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/til-guus/bcK8T2U3/"]Guus Til[/a] as the main striker, PSV got off to a disastrous start after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/stepanov-artem/ldk7Wmoe/"]Artem Stepanov[/a] scored in the third minute to give the visitors a shock lead.[/b][/p][embed guid="044a6dbb-850d-489d-a3ae-de149363083b" url="https://x.com/ESPNnl/status/2040439524929544587?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]PSV's defending led them to more trouble as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zechiel-gjivai/6BQvLBnt/"]Gjivai Zechiël[/a] managed to double FC Utrecht's lead ten minutes after Stepanov's opener, calmly finishing off a strong team move as Spanish defender [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hernadis-yarek-gasiorowski/4UxxcIjS/"]Yarek Gasiorowski[/a] continued his poor form with another mistake, clumsily losing a duel to open up the PSV defense.[/b][/p][p][b]As he does so often for PSV, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/saibari-ismael/WzSmqNMQ/"]Ismael Saibari[/a] took his team by the hand with a beautiful goal, beating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/horemans-siebe/nN0miYhi/"]Siebe Horemans[/a] on pure skill and firing the ball past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/barkas-vasilios/GlJbQAOg/"]Vasilis Barkas[/a] from inside the box to give the Eindhoven side a quick lifeline.[/b][/p][p]PSV ramped up the pressure and had FC Utrecht with their backs against the wall as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/veerman-joey/AgXeAAQR/"]Joey Veerman[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/man-dennis/zwvX5g6l/"]Dennis Man[/a], and Guus Til all took Barkas under fire, with the latter missing in front of an open net.[/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="f8e30c47-3d56-48c4-9446-0e236cdecd44" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="75536e25-0a98-41eb-b385-5349d3fe2b91" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p][b]After [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sildillia-kiliann/WCM2C2l0/"]Kiliann Sildillia[/a] hit the crossbar shortly before half-time, Saibari stepped up again following the break, this time beating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/didden-matisse/zHYrzJqD/"]Matisse Didden[/a] on strength after receiving a deep ball from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mauro-junior/jZwOs76l/"]Mauro Junior[/a] and leaving Barkas without a chance in the one-on-one.[/b][/p][p][b]The sublime Ismael Saibari continued his rampage against FC Utrecht, leaving [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vesterlund-niklas/d0zffwaj/"]Niklas Vesterlund[/a] for dead with a perfect touch and putting it on a plate for Guus Til, who earned PSV their first lead of the day after less than an hour's play.[/b][/p][p]Just as the sun started to shine in Eindhoven, literally and figuratively, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/schouten-jerdy/lYVHp6x4/"]Jerdy Schouten[/a] shook up the Philips Stadion after picking up a knee injury that forced the PSV captain to be stretchered off after 65 minutes.[/p][p]PSV toned it down after the 3-2 and saw FC Utrecht slowly gain momentum. Ron Jans' side threatened to score the equaliser once via [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cathline-yoann/QBa4drMb/"]Yoann Cathline[/a], whose header missed the power necessary to beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kovar-matej/tIXuiy4C/"]Matej Kovar[/a].[/p][embed guid="dc315189-abea-466a-b118-82a1ce14e3d7" url="https://x.com/ESPNnl/status/2040443489679270309?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]With the champions-to-be still leaning back, FC Utrecht pounced on the opportunity and got alongside PSV with eight minutes remaining when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/karlsson-jesper/xUfM6nJ2/"]Jesper Karlsson[/a] buried the ball in Kovar's right-hand corner to potentially snatch another title party from PSV's hands.[/b][/p][p][b]A bizarre game earned a bizarre end - after several efforts from PSV during the eight minutes of injury time, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/driouech-couhaib/KMLoViGQ/"]Couhaib Driouech[/a] earned PSV an unbelievable, hard-earned win with just minutes to spare as his shot flew past a clueless Barkas.[/b][/p][p]With the full three points in the bag, PSV now have to wait to see what Feyenoord does against FC Volendam on Sunday. Feyenoord dropping any points would see PSV be crowned champions of the Eredivisie for the 27th time. A Feyenoord win would keep PSV's 15-point lead intact, and with a goal difference 20 goals in favour of PSV, an unofficial title is already in the books for PSV.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/psv-M9UEHJWi/utrecht-p6QXMgOj/?mid=x0deWfR0"]Check out the full match statistics on Flashscore[/a][/b][/p]