FC Utrecht and Go Ahead Eagles win semi-finals of the playoffs for European football

FC Utrecht and Go Ahead Eagles will face each other in the final of the European football playoffs after both sides won their semi-finals on Thursday night. FC Utrecht beat Sparta Rotterdam 3-1 at home, while Go Ahead Eagles scored twice in the last 15 minutes to beat NEC Nijmegen in Nijmegen.

NEC, who finished sixth in the regular season, faced Go Ahead Eagles, who ended up in ninth place in the Eredivisie table in the night's first match.

The first half was tense, as is usually the case with playoff matches. NEC struggled and didn't create a single opportunity. Go-ahead Eagles only showed a little more danger, forcing a solid save from NEC keeper Jasper Cillessen.

Despite this, it was NEC who opened the scoring in the second half. Rober crossed to the far post where Kodak Sano was waiting to head it into the far corner after 56 minutes played.

Go Ahead Eagles equalized in the 77th minute with maybe their luckiest goal of the season. Victor Edvardsen smashed the ball across the goal, which Mathias Ross tried to clear. but his clearance hit Finn Stokkers, who was on the ground because he had attempted to slide Edvardsen's cross home. This resulted in the ball going in and the game being level.

Incredibly, if Go Ahead Eagles had scored their luckiest goal of the season, then their second goal would have been close to runner-up. Phillipe Rommens took a free kick just about over the halfway line and aimed it into the box. Mats Deijl tried to head it but missed the ball, which resulted in it bouncing off the turf and over Cillessen into the goal. It was a late winner for Go Ahead Eagles and an important one.

The second match saw seventh-placed Utrecht face Sparta, who finished with one point less in eight.

Sparta was the better side in the first half and took the lead in the 38th minute through Tobias Lauritsen. The striker, who is a specialist at winning headers, made the best use of his qualities once again to head home from a corner.

However, the home side took the goal well, equalizing three minutes later. Again the goal came from a corner; however, this one was taken short rather than crossed into the box. Taylor Booth beat his man before crossing into the box, which was met by Hidde ter Avest, who headed it on for Ryan Flamingo to get the final touch, sending it into the goal.

Utrecht had already had a goal disallowed before they took the lead through Sam Lammers in the 70th minute. Sparta's defending was horrible, with Metinho first losing the ball carelessly in midfield. A miscommunication between the midfielder and Jonathan de Guzman resulted in neither player touching the ball, leaving Lammers free to roll the ball into the corner.

The home side confirmed their win when Sparta goalkeeper Nick Olij found himself running backward with the ball bouncing and Utrecht midfielder Victor Jensen on his back in midfield. Olij went down, claiming a foul, but it was not given, ensuring that Jensen could calmly enjoy the celebrations from the crowd in the Galgenwaard before tapping it home into the empty net.

The match between Utrecht and Go Ahead Eagles will be played in Utrecht on Sunday. The winner qualifies for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League.