PSV name lifesaver Lennart Thy man of the match despite VVV star's absence

PSV made a grand gesture of respect towards VVV striker Lennart Thy by naming him man of the match on Saturday despite his absence from the game.

The 26-year-old striker was missed his side's 3-0 defeat to the Eredivisie leaders in Eindhoven due to him giving blood to help treat an acute leukaemia patient.

The mascots accompanying the players out onto the field before the game wore t-shirts that had "Follow Lennart, become a stem cell donor" written across the front and back. Then, the entire Philips Stadion broke into applause for a full minute early in the first half of the game to show respect to Thy for donating to help someone for the second time, having previously done so seven years ago.

But PSV followed that up with another great nod to the German forward by announcing him as the man of the match.

Dutch football has responded to Thy's gesture with huge support. A large banner reading "respect Thy" sat front and centre of one stand in Vitesse's stadium throughout their game with Heracles, while there was a minute's applause for him during Heerenveen's meeting with Utrecht.