NEC Nijmegen into Europe as final-day drama seals Champions League ticket

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/nijmegen/nRluRF0T/"]NEC[/a] needed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/twente/dhOKTHGA/"]FC Twente[/a] to drop points away at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/psv/M9UEHJWi/"]PSV[/a] to have a chance at claiming a ticket to the UEFA Champions League qualifiers. With Twente one point ahead and both goal differences identical, a draw would already suffice in case of a Twente defeat.[/p][p][b]After some early chances, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lebreton-noe/nTSAxkMK/"]Noé Lebreton[/a] headed NEC in front after 11 minutes to virtually send them into Europe.[/b][/p][p][b]NEC stayed firmly on top against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/g-a-eagles/hG8POBb8/"]Go Ahead Eagles[/a], who nearly put the ball in their own net and saw the hosts double their lead with Lebreton's second goal - the Frenchman hit the post with his initial effort, but rushed to tap in the rebound to have NEC sitting pretty with an hour to go.[/b][/p][embed guid="bbe86a6c-cd2d-496f-8318-23c12f8b2a56" url="https://x.com/ESPNnl/status/2055997640676946073?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Just as De Goffert erupted in more celebrations with PSV taking the lead against FC Twente, Tjaronn Chery was inches away from handing NEC a three-goal lead, missing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-busser-jari/WUMz0fU1/"]Jari De Busser[/a]'s goal with his powerful effort.[/p][p][b]Instead, Go Ahead Eagles gave themselves a lifeline via [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tengstedt-soren/YXayjQye/"]Sören Tengstedt[/a], who fired in from close range to liven up the match with over half an hour remaining.[/b][/p][p]NEC's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pereira-brayann/0QdFEL9A/"]Brayann Pereira[/a] nearly ended all doubt, but his header hit the crossbar.[/p][p]NEC dominated the second half and created chance after chance, but couldn't beat De Busser a third time in a truly one-sided half.[/p][p]De Goffert exploded after the full-time whistle as NEC clinched a third-place finish - the best in club history - and punched their ticket to the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, with the Nijmegen side coming in in the third round.[/p][embed guid="cba730e1-d67a-4d9c-a3fa-cf6544a9cec8" url="https://x.com/necnijmegen/status/2056019827899142444?s=20" social-type="twitter" /]