NEC made excellent progress on Saturday evening in the battle for second place in the VriendenLoterij Eredivisie. Away at Excelsior, Dick Schreuder’s side proved too strong, winning 2–0. The Nijmegen side are now level on points with Feyenoord (53 points), although the Rotterdam club still have a match to play this weekend against FC Volendam.
In Rotterdam, Tjaronn Chery and Virgil Misidjan were ‘simply’ included in the NEC squad. The pair had to obtain their work permits this week following the ‘passportgate’ scandal.
Within the first fifteen minutes, both teams had created a clear-cut chance. For Rotterdam, it was Lennard Hartjes who was denied by Gonzalo Crettaz. For NEC, Sami Ouaissa failed to get the ball past Stijn van Gassel.
Whilst Gyan de Regt was subsequently denied a goal on two occasions, NEC did manage to find the net. Bryan Linssen rounded Van Gassel after a through ball and finished from a tight angle.
In the second half, Ruben den Uil’s side continued to create chances. A header from Casper Widell was easily saved by Crettaz, but a subsequent attempt by Derensili Sanches Fernandes proved much harder to stop.
Just as Excelsior looked set to equalise, the Nijmegen side made it 0-2 on the counter-attack. Basar Önal was sent through by Ouaissa and finished beautifully.