Thursday, August 26, 2021 at 8:51 PM• Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk • Last update: 20:58

Vitesse qualified for the group stage of the Conference League on Thursday evening. A week after the 3-3 draw in the first game against Anderlecht, the team of trainer Thomas Letsch was 2-1 too strong for the top club from Belgium. Maximilian Wittek was the celebrated man in GelreDome with two goals and so it is not the people of Brussels but the people of Gelderland that insure themselves from European football until the winter break. The draw will be made on Friday in Nyon, Switzerland.

Vitesse had a dream start: after four minutes the ball was already behind goalkeeper Hendrik Van Crombrugge. After a short corner kick, Wittek took a strong shot and his deflected shot left Van Crombrugge without a chance: 1-0. A week ago, Vitesse was completely busy in the opening phase itself, but the roles were completely reversed in the first 45 minutes in Arnhem. The team of coach Vincent Kompany had a hard time getting rid of their own half.

Anderlecht’s only chance came after 24 minutes of play. Joshua Zirkzee created some space and lashed out. Goalkeeper Markus Schubert was not surprised and tapped the ball out of his goal. Towards halftime, Vitesse tried to force a second goal from a distance. A shot by Sondre Tronstad went just over the goal and a minute later Van Crombrugge had to come into action on an attempt by Wittek.

Vitesse also shot out of the starting blocks in the second half. It was again Wittek who hit the ball hard behind Van Crombrugge and helped Vitesse well on its way to the group stage of the Conference League: 2-0. Letsch’s team therefore only had to hold on for the remainder of the second half, but at the same time did not forget how, despite a lead in the 89th minute, they almost suffered a defeat in Brussels.

Anderlecht had to force something to at least force an extension and twenty minutes before the end, Joshua Zirkzee, Benito Raman and Francis Amuzu were taken aside for Isaac Thelin, Yari Verschaeren and former Vitessenaar Mohammed Dauda. Nine minutes before the end, things still got tense in Arnhem when Lior Refaelov, who shot a penalty on the crossbar last week, worked the ball behind Schubert after a bet on the post. Vitesse, however, still managed to cross the line with the minimal victory and will hear on Friday who the next opponents are.

For Vitesse it is the first time that the club has managed to qualify for a group stage. Four years ago, after the win of the TOTO KNVB Cup, the Arnhem team were directly qualified for the group stage of the Europa League. The elimination of Anderlecht, together with the elimination of Werder Bremen, is one of the biggest European stunts in the history of Vitesse.