FC Twente leads, but Sparta does not give up – Almere City FC on threshold of premier league

TWE-SPA | 62′ Saito dangerous

Sparta obviously has to come now and almost makes the equalizer. Revelation Koki Saito with the effort, saving Unnerstall.

A minute later Unnerstall has an even crisper reflex on yet another attempt by Saito, but this time the Japanese was just offside.

TWE-SPA | 2′ Olij is immediately put to work

Already there is almost a Twente goal. A corner lands at the feet of Michel Vlap via Julio Pleguezuelo’s head. He strikes from close range and Nick Olij saves.

However, the Sparta goalkeeper sees the ball coming back at him via Aaron Meijers’ body and prevents an early deficit with yet another reflex.

Thanks to Zerrouki, FC Twente is close to Europe: ‘He shows drive and fun’

When Jan Streuer saw the ball fly off the head of Ramiz Zerrouki into the Sparta Rotterdam goal just like that last Thursday, he thought back to the past winter break with great pleasure.

The technical director of FC Twente rejected an offer from Feyenoord for Zerrouki for the umpteenth time. Now it was the Algerian midfielder who made the crucial 1-1 in the last minute against Sparta in the first game of the playoffs final, allowing Twente to continue to dream even more emphatically of European soccer.

“I am very happy that he stayed then,” Streuer said at RTV Oost. “I am 100 percent sure that if we had let him go then, we would have said now that if he had stayed we would have moved on,” he said.

It is the day of decisions. First, the battle between FC Twente and Sparta Rotterdam for a spot in the second preliminary round of the Conference League. Thursday’s first encounter ended 1-1. In Enschede, Twente hopes to live up to its favorites.

Later in the day, especially for premier league side FC Emmen, there is a lot of pressure on the match against Almere City FC. On Tuesday, the team of outgoing coach Dick Lukkien lost 2-0 in Flevoland, making relegation close. Almere, on the other hand, dreams of a historic promotion.