Match report
Excelsior thrash Willem II with three-goal away display
Excelsior claimed a comfortable 3-0 victory away at Willem II in Eredivisie matchday five, moving further clear of a struggling home side who remain deep in the relegation zone. The result stretched Excelsior's unbeaten run in recent fixtures, while Willem II's poor early-season form showed no sign of easing at the Koning Willem II Stadion.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
The visitors made a swift start, with David Garden converting an Irakli Yegoian assist inside eight minutes to put Excelsior ahead. They doubled the advantage before the interval when Rick Meissen finished off a Simon Janssen pass in the 34th minute, sending the sides in at the break with Willem II already 2-0 down and facing an uphill task.
Willem II offered spells of pressure after half-time but could not find a route back into the contest, and Excelsior settled the outcome late on. Yegoian turned provider into scorer in the 85th minute, converting a Stijn van Gassel assist to make it 3-0 and complete a routine night's work on the road for the visitors.
Irakli Yegoian was involved in all three goals for Excelsior, setting up the opener before netting the third himself in the 85th minute, earning the highest rating on the pitch at 9.0.
Willem II had less of the ball but managed six shots on target to Excelsior's two, despite losing 0-3.
Excelsior won 3–0 away against Willem II (half-time 0–2).
Willem II met Excelsior in the Eredivisie (Regular Season - 5). Kick-off was Saturday, 5 September 2026, 19:00 UTC at Koning Willem II Stadion. Referee: Robin Hensgens.
Team pages: Willem II · Excelsior · Eredivisie
Key moments
- 8' Goal: David Garden (assist: Irakli Yegoian) — 0–1
- 34' Goal: Rick Meissen (assist: Simon Janssen) — 0–2
- 85' Goal: Irakli Yegoian (assist: Stijn van Gassel) — 0–3
Starting line-ups
Willem II (4-2-3-1)
Excelsior (5-4-1)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Willem II 23%, the draw 24%, Excelsior 53%. It finished Willem II 0–3 Excelsior.
Excelsior's rating gap outweighs Willem II's home ground — Excelsior are clearly the stronger side on our strength rating, and the early-season home fade on top gives Excelsior the lean. The draw at 24% is held down by a high-scoring environment.
Why Excelsior at 53%?
Excelsior sit 213 points higher on our strength rating — 1376 to 1590. Sides with a 200–300-point rating edge on the road won 51.9% of 6,066 such games. Both sides are inside their first six league games — home wins land softer this early in the season, so this trims Willem II's column. Across 10,911 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 31–26–43.
Why only 53%?
No scored evidence points the other way. 53% is what this rating gap has been worth in games like these; the rest is the draw at 24% and Willem II at 23%.
Why the draw at 24%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 24.0%. These teams' recent games average 4.0 goals — a high-scoring environment. Games in that environment drew 22.8% of 17,073. The goals environment takes 2.0 points off the draw. Early-season fixtures add 2.0 points to the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
Excelsior average 6 points more possession, but the rating gap here is 213 points. Our control receipt only exists between near-equals — there it moved results; across a class gap we could not measure a separate style edge, so style scores 0 here. Excelsior scored +0.62 goals per game beyond chance-quality lately — hot streaks like that have cooled off. Measured across 2,827 games at this rating gap, hot-finishing sides won 42.1% vs 42.9% class-expected — inside the noise band, so it scores 0 until the receipt clears its evidence bar. 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 Willem II 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 the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Willem II 0–3 Excelsior. Explore more on the Willem II and Excelsior team pages or the Eredivisie page.
Quick answers
›What was the final score of Willem II vs Excelsior?
Excelsior won 3–0 away against Willem II (half-time 0–2).
›Who scored in Willem II vs Excelsior?
David Garden (8') for Excelsior; Rick Meissen (34') for Excelsior; Irakli Yegoian (85') for Excelsior.
›Where can I watch Willem II vs Excelsior highlights?
Goal highlights and video clips from Willem II 0–3 Excelsior are on this page — open the videos tab to watch every goal.
›What is the head-to-head record between Willem II and Excelsior?
Willem II and Excelsior have met 8 times — 1 win for Willem II, 3 wins for Excelsior and 4 draws.