Heracles Almelo also lost in its own Erve Asito against Excelsior, which means that relegation from the Eredivisie after seventeen years is now a fact. For a moment, belief in a ‘remontada’ from Heracles seemed to grow when Bakis headed the team ahead, but goals from Wieffer and Thijs Dallinga made short work of the Almelo players’ hopes: 1-2. For example, René Kolmschot was unable to provide the desired shock effect and Heracles will act at the second level in the Netherlands for the first time since the 2004/05 season. Due to the victory, Excelsior takes the second final ticket of the Kitchen Champion Play-Offs in a week, in which it will come from ADO Den Haag. †
After about fifteen minutes Heracles provided the first perilous moment for Excelsior’s goal. Luca de la Torre dribbled in the penalty area and got the ball in front, but none of his team could hit the leather. On the other hand, a cross from Julian Baas reached teammate Reuven Niemeijer, but the corner to pull out became too difficult for the attacker. Moments later, Stijn van Gassel tapped a failed cross by Bilal Basacikoglu just wide. A free kick by the same Basacikoglu broke the spell for Heracles. The wing attacker brought the ball into Excelsior’s penalty area, after which his compatriot Sinan Bakis headed the ball into the right corner.
Excelsior seemed shaken awake by the goal and started to look for the attack himself. This quickly resulted in a good chance for Kenzo Goudmijn after an excellent pass from Niemeijer, but the attacking midfielder pushed the ball wide from the outside of the post. Niemeijer tried it himself with a long shot five minutes before half-time, but his attempt went just wide of Koen Bucker’s goal. The teams had only just left the locker room for the second half when Excelsior dealt a huge blow to Heracles by tying the score. Goudmijn reached Baas with the outside of his shoe, who in turn handed in the ball to Dallinga. The top scorer of the Kitchen Champion Division cut once and then shot in flawlessly: 1-1.
After more than an hour of play, Excelsior put an end to all hopes of Heacles. A free kick by Baas was headed in by Mats Wieffer, who trumped his direct opponent Navajo Bakbord. Tears began to flow in the stands of Erve Asito, as averting relegation had become an almost impossible task with the new goal of the visitors from Rotterdam. Giacomo Quagliata tried again with a shot into the short corner, but Van Gassel turned out to be attentive. Excelsior completed the misery for the home team ten minutes before the final whistle, with a goal from substitute Nikolas Agrafiotis. The Greek finished well after receiving the ball from Couhaib Driouech, who also came in as substitute.