FC Utrecht through to play-off final with tense win over Heerenveen

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/utrecht/p6QXMgOj/"]Utrecht[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/heerenveen/EDjXSyWG/"]Heerenveen[/a] finished as the numbers 6 and 8 in the regular season, meaning they'd have to fight their way into the UEFA Conference League qualifiers via the play-offs.[/p][p]A lively start saw both teams test each other's goalkeepers early, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/trenskow-jacob/Mux5nebR/"]Jacob Trenskow[/a] firing two shots at an excellently playing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/barkas-vasilios/GlJbQAOg/"]Vasilis Barkas[/a].[/p][p]FC Utrecht took the initiative in the remainder of the first half and came close via [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/stepanov-artem/ldk7Wmoe/"]Artem Stepanov[/a], who opened the scoring in the first minute of the second half after taking advantage of a blundering [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/klaverboer-bernt/byxyKt8g/"]Bernt Klaverboer[/a].[/p][p]Heerenveen replied aptly via [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vente-dylan/OAtrWQB0/"]Dylan Vente[/a], who chipped the ball over Barkas to put the visitors back alongside Utrecht in the 56th minute.[/p][embed guid="d25e99fe-5e5e-4ad9-ae58-36b5c338884e" url="https://x.com/ESPNnl/status/2057561348213493782?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]A red-and-white coloured storm soon thrashed Heerenveen's chances at reaching Sunday's final - [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-der-hoorn-mike/02NrrSBg/"]Mike van der Hoorn[/a] powerfully headed in a cross from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/el-karouani-souffian/2a6uUHNC/"]Souffian El Karouani[/a], who made it 3-1 minutes later with a superb volley.[/p][p]Heerenveen fought for their lives in the final 30 minutes and came back within one after El Karouani, who was included in Morocco's preliminary World Cup squad earlier on Thursday, ricocheted the ball into his own net during a free-kick.[/p][p]Some late chances made the final few minutes tense in the Galgenwaard stadium, but it were the hosts who survived and made it through to Sunday's final, in which they'll meet [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ajax/8UOvIwnb/"]Ajax[/a] in Volendam.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/heerenveen-EDjXSyWG/utrecht-p6QXMgOj/?mid=GfSwkYU8"]Check out the full match statistics on Flashscore[/a][/b][/p]