Go Ahead Eagles qualified for the final of the play-offs on Thursday evening for a ticket for the preliminary round of the Conference League. In the match against NEC Nijmegen, the Deventers proved too strong with a 1-2 score. Goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen dived under the ball in the 87th minute, giving Go Ahead the win. In the final, the team will meet the winner of the match between FC Utrecht and Sparta Rotterdam.

The visitors' opening phase was very sloppy, but after ten minutes of play the Deventers became dangerous for the first time. First, a cross from Victor Edvardsen could just not be nodded in; then Evert Linthorst's shot went narrowly wide.

NEC's first good attempt came after half an hour of play, when Tjaronn Chery shot narrowly over goalkeeper Jeffrey de Lange's goal. A few minutes later, Go Ahead became life-threatening again.

Jasper Cillessen goes under the ball, allowing Philippe Rommens to score the winning goal.#necgae

— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) May 23, 2024

Cillessen had to take action after a long shot from Jakob Breum, and did so successfully. Then the closing post was saved by the post: it was Soren Tengstedt who hit the aluminum.

Go Ahead was also the dominant party in the opening phase of the second half and the Nijmegen team got away well twice. Good crosses from Edvardsen and Bobby Adekanye, among others, just missed being touched, while Bram Nuytinck also stood in the way of a goal twice in quick succession.

In the 57th minute the goal suddenly fell on the other side. Kodai Sano nodded in excellently after a cross from Rober González: 1-0. Ultimately, it took Go Ahead until the 77th minute of play to equalize.

After a hard and low cross from Edvardsen, Mathias Ross wanted to clear the ball, but he shot into his own goal via the back of Go Ahead striker Finn Stokkers: 1-1. The decision came in the 87th minute. Cillessen misjudged the bounce after a high ball from Philippe Rommens and was beaten: 1-2.

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