Go Ahead Eagles scored a late winner in extra time to beat FC Utrecht 2-1 in the playoff final for a UEFA Conference League spot. Joris Kramer scored in the dying minutes of extra time in a match marred by crowd trouble. It is just the third time in the club's history that they qualified for European football.
They defeated NEC in the semi-finals to reach this stage. Utrecht beat Sparta Rotterdam in the semi-finals. FC Utrecht took the lead after 31 minutes.
Jeffrey de Lange saved Ryan Flamingo's header from a corner at the near post, but the rebound landed perfectly so that Nick Viergever could nod home. A beautiful Utrecht attack should have led to the 2-0 before halftime. Souffian El Karouani played the ball to Jens Toornstra in the box.
The midfielder deceived everybody by stepping over the ball so it would go into the path of Sam Lammers, who should have buried the chance from just outside the six-yard box, but De Lange saved his effort. Go Ahead started the second half well and nearly equalized through their captain, Bas Kuipers. The full-back came forward and dribbled inside of a defender before his shot was blocked in the box by El Karouani.
The home side hit the bar after 65 minutes. Lammers chipped the ball into the box to Hidde ter Avest, whose lobbed header came back off the crossbar. Rene Hake's side was pushing for an equalizer and nearly got it when Victor Edvardsen's low-driven effort went narrowly wide past the post.
Utrecht finished the match with ten men as.