Extremely surprising is the final sixteenth place of Heracles Almelo, which was trumped in-house by Sparta Rotterdam (1-3), and therefore has to enter the promotion/relegation play-offs. In addition to Fortuna, Sparta, which was still in danger of relegation beforehand, also ensured their survival.
Willem II set the tone for the blood-curdling afternoon of relegation football by taking the lead in the 8th minute of the home match against FC Utrecht with a goal from Jizz Hornkamp. Willem II took advantage of a mistake in the home team’s build-up and brutally took the lead. For Hornkamp it was the fourth goal in thirteen matches. Quite an average for the striker who was taken over from FC Den Bosch in January and who had to work straight away because the intended Argentine striker reinforcement
The fanatical supporters of Willem II had requested the club management not to play the traditionally played club song ‘Hup Willem II, tough guys’ in advance, so as not to disrupt the build-up to the match, a request that was complied with. The fanatical Tilburg supporters provided a witch’s cauldron in the Willem II stadium.
Zian Flemming has for the 0-1
Marcel van Dorst
Due to Willem II’s early lead, Fortuna, who had previously started as number 16, virtually dived under the red line. Willem II virtually came through in the play-off spot, while Sparta remained in safe fifteenth place.
The picture changed when Fortuna Sittard also took the lead five minutes after Willem II. Last Wednesday, trainer Sjors Ultee did not have access to the suspended threesome Zian Flemming, Mats Seuntjens and Deroy Duarte against Vitesse. That was a huge loss. In Nijmegen the three were back in the starting line-up and with a brilliant attack with leading roles for Seuntjens, who gave a subtle chop, and finisher Flemming, they immediately proved their worth again. For Flemming it was already the twelfth goal of the season. In recent weeks, in particular, his importance has been huge with six goals and one assist in his last six games.
Due to Fortuna’s lead, the panels shifted again at the bottom. Despite the lead, Willem II was again virtually 17th, Sparta dropped to the play-off spot while Fortuna jumped to virtual 15th place.
Just before half time, Sparta Rotterdam followed the example of the two major competitors. In the direct duel with Heracles Almelo, who was also in danger of relegation, the team of coach Maurice Steijn took the lead via Arno Verschueren shortly before half time. As a result, Sparta, which had to miss the support of its own supporters in Almelo due to stadium safety, pushed the home team towards sixteenth place, which results in participation in the promotion/relegation play-offs. Heracles had not been in a relegation spot since the sixth match day, so the stress was screaming through the throats in Almelo, where they have already experienced a season full of painful events. For example, Ismail Azzaoui and Kaj Sierhuis tore, Rai Vloet had to be fired immediately after causing a fatal accident and construction errors were found in Erve Asito.
Sadness at Heracles Almelo, which will still have to work hard in the fight against relegation.
ANP/HH
Also against Sparta, the fate was not in favor of the home team. Heracles thought he was going to get a penalty when Spartan Aaron Meijers got the ball on his hand within the box, but referee Danny Makkelie judged it to be a not punishable handball to the dismay of the tuckers. Sparta defended with all his might after the break, while Heracles increasingly desperately sought the attack. However, in a single outbreak of Sparta it was hit. Joeri de Kamps put Meijers in front of the keeper and he scored well against Lennart Thy: 0-2. And moments later, Mario Engels even made it 0-3, completing Steijn’s fairy tale. Under the leadership of the new trainer, Sparta has won the last four games and Steijn has ensured that he will be active with Sparta in the Eredivisie next season.
The 3-0 deficit came hard in Almelo, where the crowd yelled ‘Shame on you’ to their own team. With that score in their own game, Heracles could only hope that NEC would score against Fortuna. That hope was also cherished in Tilburg, where Willem II also finished 3-0 after the break through a goal by Driess Saddiki and an own goal by FC Utrecht midfielder Joris van Overeem.
Willem II’s three goals do not help the club from Tilburg.
Pro Shots
The equalizer so fervently desired by Heracles and Willem II was also in it, because in the second half NEC-Fortuna developed into an extremely one-sided duel, in which Fortuna could only stop and NEC developed legion danger. However, with the Greek defender Dimitrios Siovas as a rock and thanks to a well-keeping Yanick van Osch, Jonatha Okita, Ali Akman and substitute Javier Vet, among others, did not get the ball in. NEC had virtually eighth place in advance and had to win to secure participation in the play-offs, but the people of Nijmegen bite their teeth on Fortuna’s urge to survive.
The goldcrest of the match against Go Ahead Eagles, Ibrahim Cissoko, could not change that, although he caused a lot of threat with his substitute. It remained blood-curdlingly exciting in Nijmegen, until the last second of stoppage time, because a late equalizer would ensure that Fortuna would lose their body in extremis and would be directly relegated. That equalizing goal by NEC was very close in injury time, in which keeper Mattijs Branderhorst joined in, but Flemming first saved on the goal line on a bet by Elayis Tavsan and immediately afterwards Nigel Lonwijk took a bet from the goal line.
And so Fortuna secured another year of Eredivisie football on the gums and the Limburgers plunged both the 3-0 winning Willem II of ex-Fortuna coach Kevin Hofland and the 3-0 losing Heracles in mourning.