NEC took three important points on Sunday in the match with competitor SC Heerenveen. After a sleep-inducing first half, NEC was alert after the break. Thanks to goals from Koki Ogawa and Rober González, the game ended 2-0. As a result, the Nijmegen club rises to sixth place in the Eredivisie.
The match between NEC and SC Heerenveen seemed in advance to be an interesting match between two clubs in form. The team of coach Kees van Wonderen, who made his debut at NEC as a footballer, only lost one of the last six matches. The Nijmegen team submitted even better figures: seven wins in the last eleven competition matches with only one defeat.
Bounce back
Yet the spectators present in the Goffert Stadium were certainly not spoiled in the first half. The tactical spectacle mainly took place in the middle of the field. A harmless header from Bram Nuytinck after fifteen minutes of play seemed to be the only achievement before the tea break, until the crowd suddenly cheered up in injury time.
Tjaronn Chery curled a free kick about eighteen meters from the goal into the bottom left corner. Mickey van der Hart was unable to clamp the ball, but was then very alert to González’s rebound. Both clubs went to the dressing rooms without goals after a bloodless first half.
The Nijmegen club immediately followed up the pinprick just before half time at the start of the second half. Ogawa headed Chery’s corner onto the crossbar. NEC did lose its playmaker: 35-year-old Chery remained injured on the ground after the corner ball was taken and left the field for Lasse Schöne.
One hundred seconds
After 67 minutes, NEC’s field dominance was finally expressed in the score. First, Ogawa’s header was cleared off the line, but the subsequent corner kick was successful according to the same recipe. The Japanese striker headed his eighth goal of the season against the ropes on a pass from substitute Schöne. About a hundred seconds later, the Goffert Stadium exploded again: González doubled the lead with a placed shot after a cross from Mees Hoedemakers.
NEC then played the game expertly without any great difficulty. The two goals in a short period of time take the Nijmegen team to sixth place in the Eredivisie, just one point behind number five Ajax. The victory is already the seventh (!) home victory in a row in all competitions. Rogier Meijer’s team will be back in action on Sunday (2.30 p.m.): NEC will take on FC Utrecht, ranked two places lower, in Galgenwaard Stadium.
Score progression
67. Koki Ogawa 1-0
68. Rober González 2-0
NEC lineup: Cillessen; Van Rooij, Sandler, Nuytinck, Baas; Hoedemakers, Chery (49. Schöne), Sano; Hansen (49. Yvandro), Koki (82. Sow), González (88. Verdonk)