NAC has lost the first game of the play-offs 2-1. In a match full of frustrations, it went wrong at the last second. Sacha Komljenovic made sure that ADO will start the return leg in The Hague with a lead.
The goal against in the 35th minute was just what the game needed. They will probably think differently about that at NAC, but it was only after ADO’s goal that it became an attractive but above all fierce and intense match. The instigator of that was Sem Steijn. The son of last summer (on paper) resigned trainer Maurice Steijn.
The son of the former trainer of NAC scored the opening goal in the Rat Verlegh Stadium and wanted to know that too. He looked defiantly at the hard core before turning and pointing to the back of his shirt. The crowd reacted strongly to this and that was exactly what the game needed.
To play chess
The first 35 minutes were not to be seen. It was bad, boring and above all slow. In the back, the ball went from defender to defender. Both teams didn’t want to show their backs and that was mainly NAC to blame. The team from Breda played at home and needed a good starting position for the return match in The Hague.
So the chess in the back came to an end after Steijn’s opening goal. NAC played more opportunistic football and got two big chances before half time. After that, things went wild in the stands. Of course they sang their team forward, but the goalscorer also had to suffer.
Discharge
NAC started playing more attacking football and less in the back. But it was anything but good. ADO pulled the card of time wasting and tried to play anti-football. That paid off in the first half because ‘only’ three minutes were added. That should have been at least double.
It caused a lot of irritation on the field. Mario Bilate, for example, was done with it after 66 minutes and sought a confrontation with Janmaat. Energy that NAC could better put into its own game.
All the frustrations came out in a positive sense when Michaël Maria hit hard more than fifteen minutes before the end. The equalizer came out of the blue but caused a lot of release in the stands and among the players.
Still wrong
NAC wanted even more in the final phase, but threw open the doors in the back. ADO took full advantage of that by making the 1-2 a few seconds before time. Komljenovic shot a cross behind goalkeeper Nick Olij.
As a result, NAC will have to make up for a deficit in The Hague next Saturday. Then it will have to play better football than it did on Tuesday evening. Because NAC – ADO was more the lame against the blind than a decent football match. The Hagenese were the happiest. They go into the second game with a lead.