Friday, November 5, 2021 at 10:01 PM• Mart van Mourik • Last update: 22:07

FC Twente has emerged as the winner of the derby of the East. At home, the team of trainer Ron Jans already enjoyed a lead halfway through, which was not relinquished in the second company: 1-0. Center defender Mees Hilgers made his debut goal and also signed for the decision. It was the first time since September 2017 that De Tukkers managed to win a Twente derby. Thanks to the victory, the team from Enschede climbs to seventh place in the ranking for the time being, while Heracles remains stuck in thirteenth position in the Eredivisie.

Jans’ team took the lead, albeit somewhat fortunately, in the fifth minute of play. A dangerous free kick from the right side of Dimitrios Limnios was not cleared enough by Marco Rente to get the ball out of the box. At the far post Hilgers got the leather after a carom in front of his feet and he worked in from close range: 1-0. The home team continued to put a lot of pressure on Janis Blaswich’s goal, but Twente’s dominance in the field was not reflected on the scoreboard.

Heracles certainly had little to lose in the first fifteen minutes, and after half an hour of play, trainer Frank Wormuth had seen enough. He called Navajo Port to the side and exchanged him for Ismail Azzaoui. Although the tactical conversion did not immediately lead to great opportunities, Heracles scored a goal on the stroke of the halftime signal. Rai Vloet tried his luck from outside the box, but goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall responded adequately with a nice save.

Twente also got off to a more energetic start in the second company. Ten minutes after the break, the first attempt was for Limnios, who pulled out but saw his shot go over the goal. Afterwards, the Heracmen were unable to turn the tide, and they were lucky that the score was not doubled twenty minutes before the end. Thanks to an excellent save by Blaswich, who converted a dangerous attempt by Wout Brama into a corner, the damage was limited. Although Wormuth’s team was still emphatically looking for the equalizer, a breakthrough was no longer forced.