Late drama in Sittard all but seals Feyenoord's Champions League ticket

[p]After rivals [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/nijmegen/nRluRF0T/"]NEC[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ajax/8UOvIwnb/"]Ajax[/a] both dropped points on Saturday, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/feyenoord/8zjySeoN/"]Feyenoord[/a] could've put them on checkmate in the battle for second, with a win earning them leads of 5 and 6 points with two rounds remaining. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-persie-robin/0vgcq6un/"]Robin van Persie[/a] used the same 11 names from the 3-1 win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/groningen/MBUGcjb9/"]FC Groningen[/a], thus playing with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-den-elshout-tobias/l6G2zW1C/"]Tobias van den Elshout[/a] on the left wing, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/trauner-gernot/CQQMjpe7/"]Gernot Trauner[/a] in the heart of the defence, and a midfield pairing of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/targhalline-oussama/ULZGhzIc/"]Oussama Targhalline[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kraaijeveld-thijs/8fmnDmc2/"]Thijs Kraaijeveld[/a]. [/p][p]Eredivisie top scorer [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ueda-ayase/8Ssd0upn/"]Ayase Ueda[/a] got his first chance 12 minutes into the game, but missed the target by a wide margin as he fired the ball far over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/branderhorst-mattijs/Wnegm6vS/"]Branderhorst[/a]'s goal.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sittard/YH8HX5iP/"]Fortuna[/a] fans were ready to celebrate their team taking the lead after 17 minutes when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sierhuis-kaj/MV5tWRC5/"]Kaj Sierhuis[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/duijvestijn-lance/KbmJmrhG/"]Lance Duijvestijn[/a] escaped from Feyenoord's defense, but Duijvestijn could only hit the post.[/p][embed guid="36f10dcb-5e8a-4ca2-aad4-6ff99c185165" url="https://x.com/ESPNnl/status/2050936419367911832?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Feyenoord showed up in the opening 25 minutes and got close to scoring twice more, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/valente-luciano/4j2kSvnC/"]Luciante Valente[/a]'s shot at a 'keeperless goal was blocked, and Targhalline's follow-up sailed over the goal, leaving Feyenoord empty-handed after a strong opening phase.[/p][p][b]Former Ajax striker Kaj Sierhuis did his former employers a massive favour six minutes into the second half, beating Trauner and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/watanabe-tsuyoshi/SYe5fQkj/"]Watanabe[/a] in the air to head Fortuna in front.[/b][/p][p]With time running out for a poor Feyenoord side, Ueda got a second big chance at scoring, but put too much behind it and fired the ball over Branderhorst's bar again with 15 minutes to go.[/p][p]Feyenoord were handed a lifeline with 10 minutes of regular playing time to go - Fortuna Sittard substitute striker [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gladon-paul/vPLyZuNC/"]Paul Gladon[/a] was given a direct red card after planting his studs on Matthijs Branderhorst, reducing the hosts to ten men in the dying stages.[/p][embed guid="73d5f61a-185d-4e72-b7d5-7eed7a51381f" url="https://x.com/Feyenoord/status/2050946815189512452?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]It wasn't the usual Japanese Feyenoord star on the scoreboard in the 84th minute - Ayase Ueda's header was saved by Branderhorst, but centre-half Tsuyoshi Watanabe reacted attentively to the rebound at the back post, giving Feyenoord at least 5 more minutes to salvage a point.[/b][/p][p][b]The dramatic comeback was completed in the 90th minute when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/read-givairo/OCO1xQ7o/"]Givairo Read[/a]'s effort from distance was heavily deflected and sailed right over Branderhorst's head.[/b][/p][p]Feyenoord's late win in Sittard all but seals their spot in next season's UEFA Champions League, with NEC and Ajax now trailing 5 and 6 points as the Eredivisie heads into the final two rounds.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/feyenoord-8zjySeoN/sittard-YH8HX5iP/?mid=pSC14uwp"]Check out the match and player statistics on Flashscore[/a][/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="bb713f56-36b7-426c-862d-6f0e98badb47" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="eb60913b-b69c-46b1-8262-e4e39ee2d545" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /]