Sunday, September 12, 2021 at 4:23 PM• Yanick Vos • Last update: 16:27

The Derby of the North did not yield a winner on Sunday afternoon. FC Groningen and sc Heerenveen kept each other in balance: 1-1. The Frisians took the lead via Tibor Halilovic, after which Cyril Ngonge took care of the deserved equalizer after the break. Groningen ended the game with ten men, because Mike te Wierik was sent off the field with two yellow cards and therefore red.

FC Groningen could not do much in the first half in an attacking way. The danger came from the visitors. After just under twenty minutes of football, it was Tomas Suslov who lost the ball in the Groningen midfield. Henk Veerman was able to get away, but took the speed out of the attack by playing the ball behind Siem de Jong. Eventually the ball ended up at Joey Veerman, who found Tibor Halilovic on the left. The Croatian attacker shot at goal and saw his ball changed direction by Mo El Hankouri, as a result of which Groningen keeper Peter Leeuwenburgh was beaten in the short corner. It was Halilovic’s third goal this Eredivisie season.

Groningen coach Danny Buijs was dissatisfied with the first half and intervened after 45 minutes of play. Bjorn Meijer, Michael de Leeuw and Marin Sverko stayed behind in the dressing room and were replaced by Daleho Irandust, Romano Postema and Bart van Hintum. With fresh blood within the lines, the home team, supported by the fanatical crowd, went on the hunt for the equalizer. Heerenveen was pushed back and escaped the equalizer when Cyril Ngonge hit the post. After 68 minutes it was still hit for the home team. After an excellent corner from Suslov, it was Ngonge who jumped higher than anyone else and scored: 1-1.

Given the game image, the equalizer was deserved. Groningen took the game to itself and did so with a decent dose of struggle. That came to the fore just after Ngonge’s goal. Halilovic became angry with Neraysho Kasanwirjo because of a foul, after which Mike te Wierik interfered and a disturbance ensued. It was the start of an interesting final phase, in which both teams battled for the victory. Groningen in particular insisted, but had to do so just before time with one man less after Te Wierik took his second yellow card of the game after a foul on Joey Veerman. Shortly afterwards, Groningen got away well when Veerman then shot the post from a free kick. No more goals were scored, leaving both teams with a run.