Hibernians 2
Farrugia 62, Jorge 90;
PSV Eindhoven 1
Vloet 9;

Hibernians produced a strong second half fightback to stun Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven in a friendly in Corradino yesterday.

Although PSV’s performance left much to be desired, January 05, 2016 will remain a day to remember for the Paolites when substitute Jorge hit a screamer at death to earn his side a famous victory.

Phillip Cocu, the PSV coach, left the likes of skipper Luuk de Jong, goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet and defender Hector Moreno on the bench while Davy Propper was not on the list.

That is not to say that Cocu named an under-strength formation, what with the likes of Jeffrey Bruma, Jurgen Locadia, Jorrit Hendrix, Maxime Lestienne and Nicolas Isimat-Mirin all in PSV’s initial formation.

Branko Nisevic, the Hibernians named a strong squad with Gilmar positioned at the front of Hibs’ 4-2-3-1 formation ahead of the advanced trio of Jurgen Degabriele, Andrew Cohen and Joseph Mbong.

Referee Marco Borg, taking charge of his last match, was presented with the teams’ shirt by the respective captains Cohen and Bruma.

PSV dominated the early exchanges but Hibs stood their ground. In the fourth minute, Mbong darted into the box but his grounder was saved by Remko Pasveer, the PSV goalkeeper.

However the Dutch side took the lead in bizarre circumstances five minutes later.

Rui da Garcia Gomes’s attempted clearance hit Rai Vloet and the ball flew inside the net to the dismay of the Hibs players.

Hibs responded on 19 minutes. Clayton Failla floated a cross-shot that Pasveer lifted over the bar.

Shy the half hour mark, Bjorn Kristensen advanced through the middle and his shot forced a smart save from the goalkeeper.

Two minutes from half-time, Hibs should have equalised. Gilmar pounced on a bad clearance but his close-range shot finished just over.

Lestienne exposed gaps in Hibs defence just before the interval. He ran down the left and his low cross towards the far post found Luciano Narsingh who fired onto the crossbar with substitute goalkeeper Jurgen Borg beaten.

As expected, Cocu virtually changed his entire line-up at the start of the second half, putting in the likes of goalkeeper Zoet, Stjin Schaars and Steven Bergwijn.

But Nisevic limited his substitution to just two with Jorge and Jean Paul Farrugia taking the place of Degabriele and Mbong respectively.

Past the hour mark, Hibs equalised. Perseverance on Jackson Lima’s part led to the goal as the Brazilian stole possession from Jordi de Wijs and he quickly provided a perfect service to Farrugia who kept his nerves in check to hit past Zoet.

After 76 minutes, De Jong sprinted into the box and drove past the onrushing Stan van Hoeven – a Dutch goalkeeper on trial with Hibs. But Failla read the striker’s intention and cleared off the line.

Two minutes from time, PSV came close to restoring their lead but Ramon Lundqvist’s header was again cleared off the line by Andrei Agius.

But it was Hibs who struck at the death.

Farrugia picked Jorge just outside the area and the Brazilian took one touch before arrowing his shot past Zoet to the delight of the Hibs supporters.

Hibernians
R. Briffa, R. Da Gracia Gomes, J. Pearson, J. Lima, A. Cohen, B. Kristensen, C. Failla, A. Agius, Gilmar, J. Degabriele, J. Mbong.

Subs used: J. Borg, J.P. Farrugia, Jorge, Denni, Z. Scerri, S. Van Hoeven, Vella, Xuereb, Buckle.

PSV Eindhoven
R. Pasveer, N. Isimat-Mirin, J. Bruma, A. Maher, L. Narsingh, M. Lestienne, J. Locadia, J. Brenet, R. Vloet, J. Hendrix, J. De Wijs.

Subs used: J. Zoet, S. Schaars, F. Jozefzoon, S. Bergwijn, S. Alberto, K. Paal, R. Lundqvist, L. de Jong, H. Moreno.

Referee: Marco Borg.