NEC Nijmegen vs Groningen 2-2

Groningen led 2-0 through Brynjólfur Darri Willumsson’s double, but NEC Nijmegen fought back to draw 2-2 at Stadion de Goffert.

Groningen struck first in the 11th minute when Brynjólfur Darri Willumsson finished Marco Rente’s assist for 1-0, then made it 2-0 in the 34th minute as Willumsson scored again from Thom Van Bergen’s pass. He was booked in the 42nd minute, and NEC went in at the break 2-0 down.

NEC changed things after the interval and pulled one back in the 57th minute through Clement Bischoff, whose effort from Darko Nejašmić’s assist was confirmed by VAR in the 58th minute. Noe Lebreton levelled in the 71st minute, and NEC’s pressure was reflected by the substitutions in the 56th and 68th minutes, while Groningen made two changes in the 73rd minute and then another in the 77th minute to protect the point.

NEC had 59% of the ball, 469 passes to Groningen’s 336, and 22 shots to 9, with 9 on target compared with 3. They also finished with 11 corners to 2 and 1 save to Groningen’s 6, while xG was 1.88 to 1.51.

Groningen received three yellow cards, for Brynjólfur Darri Willumsson in the 42nd minute, David van der Werff in the 56th minute and Hans Hateboer in the 79th minute. NEC were not booked and there were no red cards.