Feyenoord Falls to Westerlo in Friendly Despite Van Persie Jr. Goal

Behind closed doors and far from the noise of De Kuip, Feyenoord suffered a 2-1 defeat to Belgian side KVC Westerlo on Monday, a low-key friendly that still raised a few eyebrows in Rotterdam.

Shaqueel van Persie provided the highlight. The youngster, son of club legend Robin, opened the scoring with a sharp finish, reacting quickest to a Sem Steijn corner and steering the ball home. It was the kind of instinctive touch that will only fuel the excitement around his development.

The lead did not last. Westerlo hit back before half-time, seizing control of a game in which Feyenoord had started with the players who had been on the bench during Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Go Ahead Eagles. On the touchline, assistants Sipke Hulshoff and Saïd Bakkati directed proceedings, with Giovanni van Bronckhorst leaving the in-game coaching to his staff.

Once the teams re-emerged, the pattern shifted again. Van Persie and Jordan Lotomba made way for Casper Tengstedt and Jivayno Zinhagel, as Feyenoord looked for fresh legs and a different threat in attack. Westerlo, though, tightened their grip and turned the scoreline around after the restart, leaving the Dutch side chasing the game.

An hour in, Luka Ivanusec replaced Gonçalo Borges on the right wing, another move aimed at injecting creativity and pace. Feyenoord pushed, probed and tried to stretch the Belgian defence, but the final ball and the final touch kept letting them down.

Late on, the chances finally came. Twice Tengstedt found himself in promising positions to level the match and rescue a draw. Twice the finish went missing. With those opportunities spurned, the friendly closed with Feyenoord walking off on the wrong end of a narrow defeat.

Now the experiments and minutes in the legs give way to the hard edge of competition again. After dropping costly points in the 2-2 against Go Ahead Eagles, Feyenoord head to promoted SC Cambuur on Sunday in the Vriendenloterij Eredivisie, facing a side still searching for their first point of the season.