NEC Nijmegen snatched a narrow first-leg lead while Twente were held in the Eredivisie Europa League play-offs.
All to play for in the Netherlands after six tight play-off games
NEC Nijmegen snatched a narrow first-leg lead while Twente were held in the Eredivisie Europa League play-offs.
Four teams are battling for the final spot available for a Dutch team in next season's Europa League.
And it is
NEC who have the advantage in their tie against
Vitesse following a controversial 3-2 home win.
Vitesse had twice led, with Nicky Hofs and Wilfried Bony their scorers, but NEC came back each time thanks to a goal from Navarone Foor and a Lasse Schone penalty.
But after a 15-minute delay due to a thunderstorm, Frank van der Struijk was adjudged to have put past his own goalkeeper despite attempting to hack the ball away after a poor first touch.
By then, the assistant referee had raised his flag to indicate that the ball had already crossed the line, much to the fury of Vitesse.
Twente could only manage a draw from their trip to
RKC Waalwijk as Steve McClaren's men continue to endure a frustrating finish to the season.
Twente were in with a shot of winning the league before three consecutive defeats saw them plummet to sixth and they now face the possibility of missing out on Europe altogether.
Douglas had given them the lead against an RKC side they finished 15 points ahead of in the league.
But Rick ten Voorde then squared things up, converting a first-half penalty after Dwight Tiendalli fouled Mitchell Schet in the area.
Promotion battle
It was a less eventful evening in the play-offs to decide which two teams will be playing Eredivisie football next season.
With eight teams left in the competition, the two sides hoping to keep their top-flight status both battled to goalless draws in the away legs of their respective ties.
De Graafschap played out a 0-0 draw at
Den Bosch, while
VVV held
Cambuur to a stalemate.
Among the Eerste Divisie teams hoping to gain promotion to the top tier,
Helmond Sport beat
Eindhoven 1-0 through a Charles Kazlauskas goal.
And
Willem II turned around their home leg against
Sparta Rotterdam to win 2-1.
Jaime Bruinier had netted early for the visitors but Arjan Swinkels and Donny de Groot had the hosts in front before the interval.
