Saturday, October 30, 2021 at 10:00 PM• Last update: 22:21

Vitesse was barely able to convert his game against sc Heerenveen into a win on Saturday. In the Abe Lenstra Stadium, the team of trainer Thomas Letsch played more than eighty minutes with one man because of a red card for Ibrahim Dresevic and won in injury time thanks to a goal from Loïs Openda: 1-2. The team from Arnhem therefore has a good general for the meeting with Tottenham Hotspur in the Conference League next Thursday evening. Vitesse rises to fifth place in the Eredivisie due to the victory; Heerenveen is stuck in tenth.

The first highlight of the match was one with many consequences. Heerenveen defender Dresevic clumsily lost the ball to Openda after ten minutes, who could thus come directly in front of goalkeeper Xavier Mous; the Kosovaar held the attacker of Vitesse for a while and was allowed to take a shower. The ensuing free kick by Nikolai Frederiksen was beautifully tapped out of the crossing by Mous, before Jansen intervened by taking left winger Filip Stevanovic to the side. The left winger, who scored the winning goal in the cup match against AFC (1-2) last Wednesday, was replaced by defender Nick Bakker to close the back line again.

The Arnhem team had difficulty translating the surplus situation into great opportunities: Thomas Letsch’s team initially did not get further than half attempts by Oussama Darfalou and Yann Gboho. Heerenveen was at least as dangerous on the counter via Anthony Musaba, who threatened Markus Schubert a few times. The visitors’ first good attack took place in stoppage time and immediately resulted in the corner from which the opening goal resulted. He just didn’t fall behind Mous.

Rodney Kongolo intercepted the ball in his own penalty area and quickly steamed up for a counter; right back Milan van Ewijk made a huge sprint to be just in time for the pass. The latter tipped the ball over Schubert: 1-0. The lead was not undeserved, but the Frisians could not enjoy it for long. Nine minutes into the second half, substitute Julian von Moos got the ball after a good play at Openda, who shot the ball hard behind Mous. Heerenveen complained about the fact that referee Martin van den Kerkhof had touched the pass on Van Moos, but the objection was to no avail.

The home team got no further than stopping; Letsch’s men fired but found no real opening. There were only thirteen minutes left on the clock when Toni Domgjoni put the ball ready for the head of fellow substitute Daan Huisman, who should have made the 1-2. Mous made a beautiful save on a bet by Riechedly Bazoer, before he had to capitulate in injury time. Elazar Dasa gave the perfect lead to Openda, who did everything right and took the win with his head.