NEC suffered a major setback. On Saturday evening, the team lost 1-2 at home to Heracles Almelo. The Nijmegen team was already 0-2 behind after thirteen minutes and could not recover from this despite Koki Ogawa’s equalizer before the break.
Early double whammy
In a sold-out Goffert Stadium, NEC started the match with an early disappointment, just like last week. A cross from Suf Podgoreanu was poorly processed by goalkeeper Stijn van Gassel, allowing Mario Engels to tap the ball in easily: 0-1. The attacking intentions of the Nijmegen team were not the problem, because shots on goal by Koki Ogawa and Calvin Verdonk were narrowly saved by Fabian de Keijzer.
The goalkeeper kept his team upright and was rewarded for it by his teammates a few minutes later. A shot by Brian de Keersmaecker landed at the feet of the approaching Luka Kulenovic and he provided the second Almelo goal.
Resilience
Even after the 0-2, NEC kept looking for goals. Dirk Proper got a good chance, but he headed wide. Just before half-time, NEC finally scored the deserved connecting goal. After a corner kick, Koki was the strongest and he nodded in via a Heraclied.
Too few
The second half started less spectacularly. It was mainly thanks to Van Gassel that Heracles did not come to 1-3 after an hour of play. The goalkeeper prevented a counter goal with a cat-like reflex and in the rebound Proper blocked on the goal line. Fifteen minutes later the dangerous visitors were via substitute Juho Talvitie. The winger hit the crossbar from a great distance.
NEC still became dangerous via a scrimmage and a deflected volley from Ogawa, but never really claimed the equalizer that would never come. A major setback for Meijer and his men, who will receive a visit from Feyenoord next week. Kick-off in the Goffert stadium is on Saturday at 18:45.
Score progression
3. Mario Engels 0-1
13. Luka Kulenovic 0-2
45. Koki Ogawa 1-2
NEC line-up: Van Gassel; Pereira, Márquez, Nuytinck (46. Ouwejan), Verdonk; Proper, Rober (46. Ouaissa), Hoedemakers (78. Beautiful); Hansen (68. Kento), Koki, Onal
:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/3YUJZI4K3VGV3K5VPZ3LY2NCN4.jpg "This is the reason why the grand finale of ‘La Casa de los Famosos’ could be screened in movie theaters")
