Vitesse has run into the second sporty downer within a week. After being eliminated in the Conference League by AS Roma at the last minute, Thomas Letsch’s team also failed to win against RKC Waalwijk in their own country: 1-2. Ex-Vitesse player Alexander Büttner crowned himself the match winner by working the ball hard into the goal roof after almost an hour of play. The position of the team from Arnhem in the ranking of the Eredivisie (number six) remains unchanged due to the defeat; number fourteen RKC is equal in points with number thirteen Heracles Almelo.
Three days after the European elimination, Vitesse soon received a significant boost. RKC closing post Etienne Vaessen misjudged a swipe by Maximilian Wittek after six minutes and punched the ball in the feet of Loïs Openda. Vitesse’s club top scorer did not hesitate for a moment and tapped in the 1-0, lifting his season total to twelve. The game then played out in midfield for a long time, until Melle Meulensteen conjured the 1-1 on the scoreboard from nowhere. The defender took a deflected ball to his instep in one shot, and saw his deflected shot land behind the stunned Jeroen Houwen.
The remainder of the first 45 minutes consisted of one-way traffic towards Vaessen. However, attempts by Yann Gboho, Nikolai Frederiksen and Openda were not enough to double the margin before halftime. Against the odds, the Waalwijkers even took the lead, just after tea. Büttner, who played for Vitesse from 2005 to 2012 and 2017 to 2019, received the ball from Jens Odgaard’s right after a shrewd transfer from Michiel Kramer. The left back got the ball ready for a while and rammed the ball hard into the roof of the goal: 1-2.
Despite the goal, Vitesse was not discouraged. Openda thought with an hour on the clock to have signed for the 2-2, but his goal was canceled due to offside. The Belgian remained the most dangerous man for the Waalwijk defence, although substitute Thomas Buitink still had the biggest chance of the game. The striker had an open shooting opportunity five meters from the enemy goal, but was unable to capitalize on it. Vitesse kept pushing, but without result.