Match report
Excelsior thrash Cambuur 4-0 to open Eredivisie season in style
Excelsior began their Eredivisie campaign with a commanding 4-0 win away at Cambuur, tearing through the hosts' defence at Kooi Stadion in a one-sided opening-day contest. The visitors led 3-0 by half-time and never let up, adding a fourth after the break to leave Cambuur pointless from their first fixture.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Irakli Yegoian opened the scoring in the 17th minute, converting an assist from Gyan de Regt, before Noah Naujoks doubled the lead in the 31st minute. D. Garden added a third just before the interval, finishing off a Simon Janssen assist to make it 3-0 at the break. Naujoks completed his brace in the 69th minute, again teed up by Janssen, to seal the scoreline at 0-4.
Excelsior dominated territory and chances despite having less of the ball, managing 19 shots to Cambuur's 11 and putting ten on target compared with the hosts' two. The visitors' xG of 3.35 against Cambuur's 0.7 reflected how thoroughly they controlled the game's key moments, while conceding fewer fouls and committing to a more clinical approach throughout.
Yegoian scored the opener and set up another goal, earning the highest rating on the pitch at 8.6, while Naujoks struck twice and Janssen contributed two assists in a dominant team display.
Excelsior's ten shots on target, five times more than Cambuur managed, underlined their attacking efficiency throughout the match.
Excelsior won 4–0 away against Cambuur (half-time 0–3).
Cambuur met Excelsior in the Eredivisie (Regular Season - 1). Kick-off was Friday, 7 August 2026, 18:00 UTC at Kooi Stadion. Referee: Allard Lindhout.
Team pages: Cambuur · Excelsior · Eredivisie
Key moments
- 17' Goal: Irakli Yegoian (assist: Gyan de Regt) — 0–1 · Watch Irakli Yegoian's goal video (17')
- 31' Goal: Noah Naujoks (assist: Irakli Yegoian) — 0–2 · Watch Noah Naujoks's goal video (31')
- 42' Goal: David Garden (assist: Simon Janssen) — 0–3 · Watch David Garden's goal video (42')
- 69' Goal: Noah Naujoks (assist: Simon Janssen) — 0–4 · Watch Noah Naujoks's goal video (69')
Starting line-ups
Cambuur (4-3-3)
Excelsior (4-3-3)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Cambuur 32%, the draw 27%, Excelsior 41%. It finished Cambuur 0–4 Excelsior.
Excelsior's rating edge outweighs Cambuur's home ground — Excelsior are the stronger side on our strength rating, and the early-season home fade on top gives Excelsior the lean. The draw at 27% is held down by a high-scoring environment.
Why Excelsior at 41%?
Excelsior sit 108 points higher on our strength rating — 1391 to 1500. Sides with a 100–200-point rating edge on the road won 40.2% of 13,017 such games. Both sides are inside their first six league games — home wins land softer this early in the season, so this trims Cambuur's column. Across 10,501 opening-stretch games since 2010, home sides won 42.8% where the rating map expected 44.9%, with draws up 2.0 — negative in every season since 2018. The 300 most similar past games finished 40–25–35.
Why only 41%?
No scored evidence points the other way. 41% is what this rating gap has been worth in games like these; the rest is the draw at 27% and Cambuur at 32%.
Why the draw at 27%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 27.2%. These teams' recent games average 3.6 goals — a high-scoring environment. Games in that environment drew 22.8% of 16,854. The goals environment takes 2.3 points off the draw. Early-season fixtures add 2.0 points to the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
Cambuur have gained 78 strength-rating points over their last 10 games. Momentum is measured but not yet proven: climbing sides won 41.5% of 12,110 such games vs 40.7% class-expected — inside the noise band, so it stays at 0 points until the receipt clears its evidence bar. Cambuur are newly promoted — game 1 of their first ten at this level, where our rating knows them least. Promoted sides ran below their rating in nine of the last ten seasons — 26.5% wins in their first ten games where the rating expected 30.0% (2,793 games since 2012), fading but still visible through game nineteen. The other measured facts on this page scored nothing either.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Cambuur vs Excelsior final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this Eredivisie fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
- Watch Irakli Yegoian's goal against Cambuur (17').
- Watch Noah Naujoks's goal against Cambuur (31').
- Watch David Garden's goal against Cambuur (42').
- Watch Noah Naujoks's goal against Cambuur (69').
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Cambuur 0–4 Excelsior. Explore more on the Cambuur and Excelsior team pages or the Eredivisie page.
Quick answers
›What was the final score of Cambuur vs Excelsior?
Excelsior won 4–0 away against Cambuur (half-time 0–3).
›Who scored in Cambuur vs Excelsior?
Irakli Yegoian (17') for Excelsior; Noah Naujoks (31') for Excelsior; David Garden (42') for Excelsior; Noah Naujoks (69') for Excelsior.
›Where can I watch Cambuur vs Excelsior highlights?
Goal highlights and video clips from Cambuur 0–4 Excelsior are on this page — open the videos tab to watch every goal.
›What is the head-to-head record between Cambuur and Excelsior?
Cambuur and Excelsior have met 5 times — 1 win for Cambuur, 4 wins for Excelsior and 0 draws.