Van Persie’s Heerenveen played against 12 players – how was it possible?
Lars Foster
Dailysports's expert
Translated by the editors
As head coach of Dutch side Heerenveen, Robin van Persie has faced his fair share of challenges. However, even the former Manchester United and Arsenal striker couldn’t have anticipated what happened in his latest Eredivisie match.
Details: A bizarre incident occurred during Heerenveen’s Eredivisie clash against Fortuna Sittard on matchday 21, when the visiting team had 12 players on the pitch at the same time.
In the 88th minute, Fortuna attempted a double substitution, with Dario Grujicic and Owen Johnson set to replace Riyan Fessou and Jasper Dahlhaus. However, while Grujicic and Johnson entered the field, only Fessou left—Grujicic remained on the pitch, meaning Fortuna had an extra man.
With this numerical advantage, Fortuna earned a throw-in near Heerenveen’s penalty area. Only after Van Persie’s appeals to the officials did Dahlhaus finally leave the field, but the situation had already lasted for about a minute.
Immediately afterward, Fortuna won a corner kick and capitalized on it, scoring the equalizer to secure a 2-2 draw.
Reminder: Back in October, Van Persie’s Heerenveen nearly suffered an embarrassing Dutch Cup exit against a fourth-division side.
