AMSTERDAM – Two assist from FC Utrecht starlet Rubio Rubin went to waste on Saturday night, as the hosts blew a two-goal, second-half lead to fall 3-2 against Eredivisie strugglers Go Ahead Eagles.
Operating as the No. 10 for the first time in his Eredivisie career, the recent US call-up put in a star turn by troubling the visitors throughout the match. Rubin was the engine that drove an Utrecht offense which fired 24 shots, five of which he took himself.
In the early stages, Rubin forced a good save from Go Ahead netminder Erik Cummins and then he saw a Ruud Boymans chance from his set-up cleared off the line. After a scoreless first half, Utrecht opened the scoring on 49 minutes with a sliding Rubin centering for Gyrano Kerk to artfully back-heel home.
Only two minutes later, the Utrecht lead was doubled when Rubin evaded a defender to slip the perfect through ball for Boymans to fire past the away 'keeper.
After the visitors rallied to level the contest at 2-2, the young American buzzed the frame with a swerving drive from outside the box in the 78th minute, only for Go Ahead to finish their rally with a stoppage-time winner.
In all, Rubin completed 85 percent of his passes and earned a game-high four free kicks. The tough loss dropped Utrecht four places to 10th in the standings.
Greg Seltzer covers Americans based in Europe for MLSsoccer.com.
