FC Emmen can no longer relegate directly from the Eredivisie and is still in the race for survival. The team of trainer Dick Lukkien was 3-1 too strong for SC Heerenveen on Thursday afternoon, while ADO Den Haag and VVV-Venlo lost to Willem II and Ajax respectively and were therefore definitively relegated. FC Emmen, 27 points, and Willem II, 28 points, will determine next Sunday who will end the season in fifteenth and sixteenth. RKC Waalwijk, 30 points, is still unofficially assured of life preservation.
In the first twenty minutes, the teams of Lukkien and Johnny Jansen kept each other somewhat in balance. A penalty kick put the game off balance: Michael de Leeuw was kicked in the face by Ibrahim Dresevic, after which Sergio Peña claimed the ball. The Peruvian sent goalkeeper Erwin Mulder into the wrong corner from eleven meters: 1-0. It turned out to be not the only early downer for the Frisians, as it became clear a few minutes later.
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Lasse Schöne went full on Jari Vlak’s ankle. Referee Bas Nijhuis initially drew a yellow card, but that turned out to be a red print after consulting the VAR. In the remainder of the first half, FC Emmen sought out the attack, but that did not result in a second goal. A lob by De Leeuw went wide and Mulder made an excellent save on attempts by Vlak and Luka Adzic.
Seven minutes after the break FC Emmen came to 2-0 and again from a penalty kick. After a handball by Jan Paul van Hecke in the sixteen-meter area, the ball hit the spot after the advice of the VAR. Peña applied for his second penalty of the afternoon and scored again. In the final phase, a beautiful third goal was scored: Peña took a falling ball from a corner very fine on the shoe and crossed the ball in the bottom corner. Just before the end, Benjamin Nygren set the final score: 3-1. In extra time, Syb van Ottele also received a red card for a foul on Marko Kolar.
An important victory for FC Emmen, which collected fifteen points from eight matches and then lost a lot to both Ajax and FC Groningen: 4-0 and 0-4. FC Emmen will visit the relegated VVV on Sunday, while Willem II will take on Fortuna Sittard in-house. The goal difference of RKC, which plays away at Feyenoord, is significantly better: -19, versus -29 and -32 of Willem II and FC Emmen respectively.
| No. | Team | M. | W. | G. | V. | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajax | 33 | 27 | 4 | 2 | 77 | 85 |
| 2 | PSV | 33 | 21 | 8 | 4 | 39 | 71 |
| 3 | AZ | 33 | 20 | 8 | 5 | 29 | 68 |
| 4 | Vitesse | 33 | 18 | 7 | 8 | 16 | 61 |
| 5 | Feyenoord | 33 | 15 | 11 | 7 | 25 | 56 |
| 6 | FC Utrecht | 33 | 13 | 13 | 7 | 11 | 52 |
| 7 | Fc Groningen | 33 | 14 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 50 |
| 8 | Sparta Rotterdam | 33 | 12 | 8 | 13 | 0 | 44 |
| 9 | Heracles Almelo | 33 | 12 | 8 | 13 | -6 | 44 |
| 10 | Fortuna Sittard | 33 | 12 | 5 | 16 | -7 | 41 |
| 11 | sc Heerenveen | 33 | 9 | 12 | 12 | -5 | 39 |
| 12 | FC Twente | 33 | 9 | 11 | 13 | -3 | 38 |
| 13 | PEC Zwolle | 33 | 8 | 11 | 14 | -10 | 35 |
| 14 | RKC Waalwijk | 33 | 7 | 9 | 17 | -19 | 30 |
| 15 | Willem II | 33 | 7 | 7 | 19 | -29 | 28 |
| 16 | FC Emmen | 33 | 6 | 9 | 18 | -32 | 27 |
| 17 | VVV Venlo | 33 | 6 | 5 | 22 | -44 | 23 |
| 18 | Ado den Haag | 33 | 4 | 10 | 19 | -46 | 22 |