FC Twente has won the direct ticket for the third preliminary round of the Conference League on Wednesday. In an emotional duel, in which the club extensively reflected on the death of Jody Lukoki, FC Groningen was defeated 3-0. AZ seemed to follow in the footsteps of the tukkers, but in the end handed over a victory at FC Utrecht (2-2) and was sentenced to the play-offs.
The festive ending made it an evening of extremes for FC Twente, which paid an emotional tribute to the deceased Lukoki before kick-off against Groningen. The players came onto the field with his son and placed a flower in a vase, which stood next to a portrait of Lukoki. The attacker, only 29 years old, had been under contract in Enschede since last summer until February.
After that particularly radical moment, it logically took FC Twente time to get into the match. Goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall saved Romano Postema and Cyril Ngonge in the early stages, but despite the Groningen initiative, it was the home team that took the lead in the 29th minute.
Ricky van Wolfswinkel gave the ball to Václav Cerný with a heel and he scored flawlessly, high in the far corner. The goal was celebrated with the entire selection and staff at the bench, after which Cerný showed a shirt with Lukoki’s name on the back.
In the second half, FC Twente ran further away from FC Groningen, which had already suffered its sixth defeat in a row, due to two goals from the Greek Dimitrios Limnios (changed direction of shot and striker). The ‘Pride of the North’ sees the eighth place and with it a ticket for the play-offs for European football slowly disappear from sight.
For a long time it seemed that the battle for fourth place would not be settled until Sunday. AZ led for a long time with 1-2 at FC Utrecht, but deep in injury time the home team still equalized in Stadion Galgenwaard. FC Twente is with one round to go on an unbridgeable lead of four points and is entering Europe for the first time in eight years.
Before the match, the FC Twente players reflected extensively on the death of Jody Lukoki. His son also walked onto the field.
Before the match, the FC Twente players reflected extensively on the death of Jody Lukoki. His son also walked onto the field.
Photo: Pro Shots
AZ loses battle for fourth place in injury time
FC Twente owes a lot to the resilience of FC Utrecht, which already fell 0-2 behind after fifteen minutes. Jesper Karlsson accidentally got the ball in his feet in the twelfth minute and passed Vangelis Pavlidis, who scored for the fifth time in the last six games.
Three minutes later, the Alkmaar tandem was worth gold again. Karlsson found the head of Pavlidis with a high cross and he outwitted Eric Oelschlägel. FC Utrecht was better after that and received wages for work. Sander van de Streek got the ball after some nice combinations and made no mistake in the rounding.
The match was stopped for a while in the final phase because fans threw beer cups onto the field from the stands. Referee Jochem Kamphuis decided to continue playing after about ten minutes and in the remainder of the game FC Utrecht struck through Anastasios Douvikas, who scored from close range and sentenced AZ to the play-offs.
FC Utrecht is already certain of a place in the top eight and will also enter the play-offs, but the team of interim trainer Rick Kruys will not compete with much confidence for a European ticket. FC Utrecht has only won one of the last nine matches: the home match against NEC (1-0) on April 29.
Vitesse, which won 1-2 at Fortuna Sittard on Wednesday, also goes to the play-offs. Only the fourth team is not yet known. NEC is currently in the important eighth place, but Heerenveen, Go Ahead Eagles, FC Groningen, SC Cambuur and even RKC Waalwijk can also win a play-off ticket in the last round.
Results game round 33
Ajax-sc Heerenveen 5-0 PSV-NEC 3-2 Go Ahead Eagles-Feyenoord 0-1 FC Twente-FC Groningen 3-0 FC Utrecht-AZ 2-2 Fortuna Sittard-Vitesse 1-2 RKC Waalwijk-Heracles 2-0 SC Cambuur-Willem II 1-1 Sparta-PEC Zwolle 2-0
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