NEC has added three points to its season total after a very convincing match. The Nijmegen team won 3-1 against Heracles Almelo, which itself also performed well, with the help of outstanding players Tjaronn Chery, Koki Ogawa and Sontje Hansen. Thanks to the victory, NEC is currently sixth, while Heracles is fifteenth.

Heracles had an absolute doom start in the Goffert Stadium. A cross from the right initially yielded nothing, but Emil Hansson's subsequent cross resulted in a goal. Jizz Hornkamp headed in from close range to give Heracles the lead. At NEC they thought about an alleged foul by Stijn Bultman on Kodai Sano in the run-up to that goal, but that turned out not to be the case: 0-1.

NEC very quickly had the opportunity to level the playing field. Brian De Keersmaecker wanted to play goalkeeper Michael Brouwer, but completely overlooked Hansen. The NEC winger wanted to pass Brouwer, but he remained calm and plucked the ball from the attacker's feet.

There was plenty to do in Nijmegen, where Heracles thought they had reached 0-2 after fifteen minutes. Jordy Bruijn thought he would score the second Almelo goal on a pass from debutant Fredrik Oppegård, but the goal was disallowed for offside. NEC was the dominant party in the remainder of the first half, but several opportunities were left unused. This was mainly due to Brouwer, who played an excellent game.

Shortly after half time, NEC had the perfect opportunity to level the score. Ogawa was sent deep by Chery, who had an excellent through ball, and was run into his back by Sven Sonnenberg. The ball hit the spot and Ogawa took advantage of the opportunity in a very convincing way: 1-1.

Less than ten minutes later, NEC scored its second goal of the evening. A sharp cross from Hansen was headed in by Ogawa, who subtly let the ball slide off his head: 2-1. Even after the break the pace was high and the match was entertaining. NEC played with conviction and thought they would get a second penalty.

Chery passed into the path of Hansen, who dribbled into the box and was knocked down by De Keersmaecker. Ogawa stood behind the ball again, but had to watch as referee Marc Nagtegaal turned the penalty into a free kick. That did not matter for star Chery, who shot the 3-1 against the ropes via Hornkamp. Chery was then also close to 4-1, but his beautiful swipe was tapped out of the intersection by Brouwer. In the final phase, NEC no longer encountered serious problems.

More sports news