Friday, September 17, 2021 at 21:59• Yanick Vos

The Eredivisie match between Sparta Rotterdam and NEC did not yield a winner on Friday evening. The confrontation at Het Kasteel ended in a 1-1 draw. Due to the draw, the Nijmegen team is on eight points from five matches, putting it in provisional third place in the Eredivisie behind leader PSV (12 points) and pursuer Ajax (10 points).

Sparta started the season disappointingly with three defeats in a row, but got some relief with last weekend’s victory over Fortuna Sittard. The victory over the Limburgers gave the team of trainer Henk Fraser hope for better times. On Friday evening, however, it played a disappointing first half, in which it fell behind after half an hour of play. Lasse Schöne launched an attack with a watched cross ball. After a smooth and above all beautiful combination with Jordy Bruijn, Jonathan Okita scored in the far corner. Sparta keeper Maduka Okoye was in the right corner, but couldn’t get his hand against the ball.

A swipe by Mo Osman on the crossbar inspired the home team to start chasing the equalizer just before half-time. Sparta kept pushing and saw a shot by Lennart Thy from a difficult angle being saved with difficulty by NEC goalkeeper Mattijs Branderhorst, after which Sven Mijnans was in the right place to tap in from close range: 1-1.

After the break there were chances for both teams. Thy was threatening on behalf of Sparta, while Ali Akman created the danger on the other side of the field. Despite this, no more goals were scored in Rotterdam and both teams have to settle for a point. NEC can enjoy third place for at least a day due to the draw. Sparta comes on five points and occupies eleventh place. For Fraser’s team, an important period begins with matches against PEC Zwolle and SC Cambuur.