Xavi Simons had a message for close friend Édouard Michut after the Fortuna Sittard midfielder scored a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser to deny PSV Eindhoven victory.
Xavi Simons watched on as his former Paris Saint-Germain academy teammate Édouard Michut struck deep into stoppage time to earn Fortuna Sittard a 2-2 draw against PSV Eindhoven.
Michut produced a superb finish in the 92nd minute, cancelling out PSV's 2-1 lead and preventing Peter Bosz's side from maintaining a perfect start to their Eredivisie title defence.
Simons, who remains sidelined with a serious knee injury, immediately reacted to his friend's decisive contribution on X.
“Édouard Michut, not against my PSV please,” the Netherlands international wrote, accompanied by several emojis.
The response reflected the long-standing friendship between the pair, who first became close while coming through the youth system at Paris Saint-Germain.
Both players progressed through PSG's academy and ultimately made only brief appearances for the French club's senior side before pursuing their careers elsewhere. Their friendship, however, remained intact.
The relationship was evident again last year when Simons and Michut went on holiday together. Their continued closeness has remained clear since.
Michut's goal on Saturday was particularly notable given the circumstances surrounding his return to action. The Fortuna midfielder had spent four months on the sidelines with an injury and had missed the entirety of his club's pre-season campaign.
Despite the lack of match rhythm, the Frenchman showed composure when it mattered most, producing a fine finish to rescue a point and halt PSV's winning start.
Simons is currently dealing with his fitness setback. The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder missed the World Cup after suffering a serious knee injury and is expected to remain out for several months.
His immediate focus, therefore, is rehabilitation, although the reaction to Michut's goal showed that his connection with his former academy teammate remains strong.
PSV Frustrated At Home
For PSV, however, the result represented a frustrating evening after they had worked their way back into the game.
Bosz admitted afterwards that his team had not performed to the required standard.
“This was not how we like to see it,” the PSV manager told ESPN's Wouter Bouwman.
Bosz felt PSV had failed to deal properly with Fortuna's defensive approach.
“We knew beforehand exactly what they were going to do. They were all going to stand in front of the box and you have to play through that. We did not do that well, because we created few chances.”
The PSV manager was also unhappy with the team's execution, arguing that sloppy did not adequately describe the performance.
“I would replace the word sloppy with poor,” he asserted as relayed by Goal.
PSV had controlled possession for long periods before conceding their opening goal following a poor backpass from Ryan Flamingo.
Questions were subsequently raised about Bosz's altered tactical shape, but the coach stood firmly by his decision.
“We put something up against that which may have been very bold, but which functioned perfectly well in my view, because they did not create any chances themselves. We gave those to them in the first half.”
Asked whether the different approach could have confused his players, Bosz rejected the suggestion.
“It should not have done, because this is exactly what we explained and what we trained.”
He also refused to reconsider the setup simply because PSV had failed to win.
“I'm not going to set it up differently because we have not won this match now. That would be ridiculous. That really would be talking according to the result.”
For Michut, meanwhile, the late equaliser provided a memorable return from injury, while his old PSG academy friend could only watch from afar and jokingly plead for him to spare PSV next time.
