ADO Den Haag ended the last away match of the competition with a draw. When visiting the Pearl of the South, Darije Kalezic’s team managed to take a comfortable 0-2 lead early in the match through goals from Esajas and Veerman. However, NAC Breda managed to come alongside in the second half, meaning the residents of The Hague had to share the points: 2-2.
In the last regular away match of the season, ADO Den Haag did not have access to both Asante and Waem. Both received their fifth yellow card of the season last Monday in the away match against Jong FC Utrecht, which meant they had to miss the away match against NAC Breda. This meant a starting spot for both Koudossou and Absalem. Van Hintum was back in the match selection for the first time in weeks. However, this did not yet apply to Van der Sande, Vigen and Sürmeli. The other nine names of the starting team were identical to the last match.
Although ADO Den Haag was still trying in the first minutes of the match in a bombastic and atmospheric Rat Verlegh Stadium, the first opportunity from The Hague was a direct hit. Vlak carefully placed Esajas in front of the goal, who in turn plucked the ball out of the air and saw goalkeeper Van de Merbel fish it wide: 0-1! After the early lead, ADO Den Haag’s confidence grew. A perfect cross pass from Absalem reached the excited Koudossou who passed the ball wide. For a moment it seemed as if this attack would come to nothing, until the quick Ideho suddenly managed to keep the ball in. After a good, individual action by the fast winger, his opponent was forced to pull the emergency brake in the sixteen-meter area, causing referee Van den Kerkhof to rightly point to the spot. Veerman, just like last Monday, took his place again at eleven meters and did not miss. After more than fifteen minutes of play, the visitors already had a comfortable 0-2 lead.
The same lead was well maintained when Garbett had the best chance for the tying goal on behalf of the home team. A placed shot was fantastically picked out of the intersection by Marsman. A few minutes later, the goalie from The Hague was again of enormous value, after Omgba tried to push the ball past Marsman. And so a somewhat stronger phase began for the Pearl from the South. Garbett tried again from a distance, but this time he was unable to get the ball between the posts. Lucassen was also close on behalf of NAC Breda, after he came face-to-face with Marsman, but his shot ended up in the side netting. After a good initial phase in which ADO Den Haag scored no fewer than twice, the team managed to keep a clean sheet in the first half, partly due to a number of good saves from Marsman, and went to the changing rooms with a doubled lead.
ADO Den Haag started the second half unchanged, where Schalk shot the first shot towards the enemy goal after fifteen seconds of play. Van de Merbel did not have to intervene, because he visibly disappeared next to the goal. After ten minutes of play, the home team also created an opportunity, but it had the same result as Schalk’s shot: wide. NAC kept increasing the pressure and with success, Omgba was able to score the tying goal from close range: 1-2.
So it suddenly became an exciting match in Breda again, but a loss for Marsman who had to leave the field injured with more than fifteen minutes to play. Coremans, who was well received by the supporters in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, was his replacement. With more than ten minutes left on the clock, the home team gave everything it had, with the result that ADO Den Haag found it more difficult to play football and were forced to retreat more and more into their own half. We defended as a team and more than 17,000 supporters even saw Veerman intervene in his own sixteen-meter area. A few very exciting minutes followed, where ADO Den Haag still had to concede a goal from substitute Haugen in the 90th minute and thus saw a victory slip away.
Characteristics
NAC Breda – ADO The Hague 2-2 (0-2)
Score progression: 8. Esajas 1-0, 17. Veerman 2-0, 65. Omgba 1-2, 90. Haugen 2-2
Referee: Van den Kerkhof
NAC Breda line-up: From the Merbel; Lucassen (46. Koscelink), Martina, Van den Bergh Kemper (90+2. Royo), Omgba, Staring, Janosek, Garbett (84. Van Schuppen), Mar Omarsson (63. Haugen), Boere (63. Kuijpers)
Line-up ADO The Hague: Marsman (73. Coremans); Koudossou, Siereveld, Esajas (84. Sellouki), Absalem, Vlak, De Bruin (73. Klas), Schalk, Ideho (69. Van Hintum), Veerman ©, Van Mieghem (84. Van Wolfgang)
