Feyenoord win bruising Dutch cup final halted twice by fireworks

Feyenoord won a fiercely contested Dutch cup final to lift the trophy for the 14th time in a match that was twice stopped by crowd disturbances.

Brazilian forward Igor Paixão scored the only goal in the 59th minute when he squeezed a shot underneath the outstretched glove of Jasper Cillessen at the foot of the left-hand post.

The goal came four minutes after the players had returned from a 20-minute break while firefighters put out a banner that had caught fire in front of the stand.

Referee Serdar Gözübüyük also had to stop play briefly early in the first half after clouds of smoke from fireworks in the stands billowed across the pitch.

For Feyenoord the win offers some consolation for relinquishing their league title to PSV Eindhoven, while NEC extended their unenviable record of having lost all five finals they have reached.

Timber relieved

A relieved Feyenoord midfielder Quinten Timber admitted the team had been under the cosh for much of the game. “We really had to fight today, especially after the red card,” he told ESPN. “We didn’t start well and lost a lot of 50-50 challenges. It was a real test for us but we came out on top.”

The Rotterdam club shaded the first half in their own De Kuip stadium, but NEC came closest to taking the lead when Tjaronn Cherry lashed the ball into the net from an offside position.

Paixão scored while Feyenoord were in the ascendancy, having gone close a few minutes earlier through Timber. Lutsharel Geertruida looked to have sealed the match with a 70th-minute tap-in, but he was judged to have been marginally offside.

The match was back in the balance two minutes later when Feyenoord’s Yankuba Minteh received a second yellow card for stamping on Philippe Sandler.

NEC almost equalised when Sylla Sow’s shot squirted wide of Timon Wellenreuther’s left-hand upright, while at the other end Ayase Ueda spurned a golden chance for Feyenoord’s second after running on to Timber’s through ball.

Roberto Gonzalez had the best chance for NEC as his team stepped up the pressure in the last 10 minutes, but his header fell straight into the arms of Wellenreuther.