NAC on minimal lead against MVV in playoffs thanks to hit penalty kick

NAC Breda won the first match in the playoffs for promotion to the premier league 1-0 at home against MVV. In a not too scintillating match, a converted penalty kick by Odysseus Velanas was enough for victory. Saturday is the return game at Stadion de Geusselt in Maastricht.

The match also marked the passing of NAC club icon Hans van den Dungen. He died Saturday at the age of 61. As a tribute, the match included a minute of silence, banners hung and the game was briefly stopped in the 61st minute.

The winner of the NAC-MVV duel will take on the only premier league player in the nacompetition, FC Emmen, in the next round. Those finish sixteenth in the premier league, the numbers seventeen and eighteen (SC Cambuur and FC Groningen) are directly relegated.

In the regular league, MVV finished fifth and NAC sixth. The opening phase at the Rat Verlegh Stadion tonight was for NAC with several chances and opportunities, but they were not exploited. After that, the match became more balanced, although MVV remained without goal attempts.

So the penalty kick for the home team in the 40th minute came out of the blue. MVV captain Matteo Waem tapped Velanas, who took the penalty himself: 1-0. NAC suffered a setback when the goal-scorer was out with an injury shortly after halftime.

It didn’t do the match any good. The Breda players remained the better ones without creating much and MVV came out dangerous only sporadically. The still only 18-year-old striker Ruben van Bommel was virtually invisible.

The son of former Orange captain Mark van Bommel is coveted by many clubs at home and abroad because of his strong debut season with MVV, but he did not train fully last week because of a groin injury. That was noticeable in Breda, under the watchful eye of his father and grandfather Bert van Marwijk, former national team coach.

MVV still tried, saw a goal disallowed due to offside and because NAC did not really push either, it remained 1-0 in Breda.