FC Groningen seems beyond saving after another defeat in the Eredivisie. On Tuesday afternoon, the game against NEC Nijmegen, which was stopped last Saturday, was lost 0-1. The team from Nijmegen only took the lead in the 84th minute thanks to a late penalty from match winner Jordy Bruijn. Laros Duarte was penalized with a red card for the previous foul. Groningen seems to have to prepare itself for the Kitchen Champion Division due to the new loss.
At 3 p.m., the remainder of the Eredivisie match between Groningen and NEC started in De Euroborg, which was halted after eighteen minutes at a 0-0 score on Saturday evening. A cup of beer thrown from the audience ended up on the leg of the assistant referee, after which referee Richard Martens decided to stop the game definitively. In an empty stadium, the team of trainer Dennis van der Ree started the game on Tuesday with two changes. However, these did not count because Johan Hove and Oliver Antman are injured / ill. Duarte and Luciano Valente took over their spots.
NEC coach Rogier Meijer sent exactly the same eleven names onto the field. The team from Nijmegen became dangerous for the first time in the 26th minute, but captain Lasse Schöne saw his effort end up just wide of Peter Leeuwenburgh’s goal. Groningen and NEC both played a poor first half, so that after 45 minutes the score was still on the scoreboard. Schöne was visibly annoyed about the disappointing efforts of his teammates. Most likely, the ambiance, which was reminiscent of football in times of the corona pandemic, played a major role during the make-up game.
After the break, Groningen came out of the dressing room stronger, but that did not lead to more than a harmless shot from Isak Määttä. NEC then became more dangerous again, but Leeuwenburgh proved to be an excellent replacement for the injured Michael Verrips with several saves. Just before time, the long goalie still had to fish, after Duarte pulled down Pedro Marques, who had broken through, giving NEC a penalty. To make matters worse, the Groningen player had to pay for that with a red card, while Bruijn managed to take advantage of the golden opportunity: 0-1. Due to the new defeat, the gap between Groningen and Excelsior Rotterdam is now eleven (!) points, with only four games to go. NEC rises no less than three places through the victory and passes Go Ahead Eagles, sc Heerenveen and RKC Waalwijk. However, the last two clubs only have a lesser goal difference than the team from Nijmegen.