Fortuna Sittard crown good start to the season with win at bottom side Willem II

Fortuna Sittard recorded their fourth win of this VriendenLoterij Eredivisie season on Saturday evening. Danny Buijs' side edged Willem II 0-1 thanks to a goal from Philip Brittijn.

Lequincio Zeefuik was the standout absentee from the starting XI in Tilburg. The 21-year-old striker had to settle for a place on the bench, with coach Danny Buijs opting for Ole Romeny and Anthony Descotte up front.

Early on, Fortuna thought they had a penalty. Ivo Pinto went down after a duel with Nathan Tjoe-A-On and VAR sent Dennis Higler to the monitor. After checking the footage, though, the referee stuck with his original decision: no penalty.

At the other end, Willem II threatened soon after. Eser Gürbüz picked out Devin Haen with an excellent pass and sent him through one-on-one with Mattijs Branderhorst, but the Fortuna goalkeeper made the save.

From there, Fortuna took control of the first half. Mohamed Ihattaren caused most of the problems, especially with his delivery, but the visitors could not find a goal before the break.

After half-time, Brittijn forced a save from Maxime Delanghe and the now-introduced Zeefuik fired over for Fortuna. Willem II responded through Uriël van Aalst, whose effort Branderhorst tipped wide.

Then Zeefuik had a goal ruled out for a foul in the build-up. With ten minutes left, though, Fortuna made it count: Ihattaren crossed, Zeefuik headed, Delanghe saved, and Brittijn slammed home the rebound for 0-1.

So it finished. Fortuna climb to an impressive sixth place in the Eredivisie with the win. Willem II are bottom with just two points.