A new European adventure is far away for Vitesse. The Arnhem team lost 3-1 to FC Utrecht in the semi-finals of the play-offs on Thursday. Last season, Vitesse only stranded in the eighth finals of the Conference League, against finalist AS Roma.
The winner of the play-offs, in which sc Heerenveen and AZ also participate, now qualifies for the second preliminary round of the Conference League.
FC Utrecht started energetically for their own audience. The 35-year-old veteran Willem Janssen, who will start as technical manager of VVV-Venlo next season, headed Utrecht ahead from a corner in the 3rd minute. For Janssen it was already his 31st game in the European play-offs. This makes the defender the record holder.
penalty kick
Anastasios Douvikas seemed to put Utrecht 2-0 in the 7th minute, but the Greek striker’s goal was disallowed for offside. Not much later, the home crowd was still able to cheer. After Thomas Buitink lost the ball, Othmane Boussaid was able to play the ball deep into Sander van de Streek. The midfielder surprised goalkeeper Jeroen Houwen with a shot with his left leg into the short corner.
Vitesse made a powerless impression and saw Simon Gustafson use a penalty in the 81st minute. With that, Sunday’s return seemed to become a kind of formality, but thanks to a late goal by substitute Patrick Vroegh, Vitesse still has a little hope.