Excelsior and NAC Breda clashed in the first leg of the promotion play-off for the Eredivisie and saw plenty of fireworks. Aimé Omgba, one of NAC’s best players this season, gave the home side the lead after 12 minutes, but Lance Duijvestijn gave the Eredivisie side an equaliser just after half an hour. Just over 10 minutes later he went from hero to villain as he was sent off and conceded a penalty, with Breda’s Dominik Janošek converting from the spot.
In front of a raucous atmosphere from the home fans, defender Jan Van den Bergh made it 3-1 just two minutes later. On loan Tottenham striker made it 3-2 just before the break to keep Excelsior in the game. Yet it got much worse for the Eredivisie side in the 72nd minute when Arthur Zagre was sent off, and down to nine men Martin Koscelnik made it 4-2 to the home side. Van den Bergh then went on a mazy solo run to set up the fifth goal, with Elías Már Ómarsson nodding in at the back post. That wasn’t the end of the scoring, as the fans were treated to a sixth goal as Ómarsson grabbed his second of the game. The nine men of Excelsior looked completely drained as their hosts were ruthlessly pushing for as many goals as they could get.
It has been an incredible play-offs for the side from Breda so far. They finished in the final qualification spot for the post-season but have taken Roda and Emmen apart over two legs to book their place in the final against Excelsior. The Rotterdam side looked a far cry from the team that had beaten ADO Den Haag 7-1 in their second leg a week ago, although this certainly wasn’t helped by the red cards.
Breda take their four goal advantage to Rotterdam on Sunday, hoping that they won’t see a repeat of what happened in Germany when Fortuna Düsseldorf lost 3-0 at home to VFL Bochum after leading 3-0 from the first leg, losing out via the penalty shoot-out.
