Flawless FC Twente soar into crucial third place with big win over Sparta

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/twente/dhOKTHGA/"]FC Twente[/a] were the third in a three-horse race for UEFA Champions League football, trailing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/nijmegen/nRluRF0T/"]NEC[/a] by a point and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ajax/8UOvIwnb/"]Ajax[/a] on goal difference.[/p][p]FC Twente were unlucky not to go up ahead of half-time, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rots-daan/SvMhWs2d/"]Daan Rots[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-den-belt-thomas/CUPz0tB5/"]Thomas van den Belt[/a] (from an overhead kick) both hitting the crossbar in a dominant first half.[/p][p][b]With NEC losing and Ajax drawing an hour into Sunday's 9-game slate, Thomas van den Belt put FC Twente virtually into third place after tapping in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lammers-sam/lOMS3gGk/"]Sam Lammers[/a]' low cross.[/b][/p][embed guid="104e0d94-8aa8-447e-b778-df2c386e1e9e" url="https://x.com/ESPNnl/status/2053507362074304748?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]Van den Belt added to the home fans' joy by scoring a quick second, profiting from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sparta-rotterdam/KK4FaFV3/"]Sparta[/a]'s defensive malpractice and firing the ball past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/drommel-joel/UuJ6QXyI/"]Joël Drommel[/a] for a crucial two-goal cushion.[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hlynsson-kristian/UkldIdo0/"]Kristian Hlynsson[/a] put the game to bed with 20 minutes to go, heading the ball in for the 3-0.[/b][/p][p][b]Daan Rots added salt to Sparta's wounds, firing the ball into the roof of Drommel's goal in the 78th minute.[/b][/p][p]With Ajax losing to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/utrecht/p6QXMgOj/"]FC Utrecht[/a] in the 96th minute and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/groningen/MBUGcjb9/"]FC Groningen[/a] beating NEC Nijmegen, FC Twente leapfrogged Ajax and NEC and took the lead in the battle for third. Twente now take a 2-point lead over NEC and a 3-point lead over Ajax into the last weekend of the season and their away game at champions [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/psv/M9UEHJWi/"]PSV[/a].[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/sparta-rotterdam-KK4FaFV3/twente-dhOKTHGA/?mid=Ms1TEmcJ"]Check out the full match statistics on Flashscore[/a][/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="3138e3d2-202b-47e6-b67f-b903384e2671" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="f29acf00-01b6-4350-862e-6c464fe2b483" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /]