Ten man Heerenveen won the battle of the north as the saw off nine man Groningen 4-2 in a crazy game in Friesland.
- By Michael Bell
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On 11 minutes Groningen were reduced to ten men when Timo Letschert went in studs up on Luciano Slagveer, earning him a straight red card.
Heerenveen couldn’t make their advantage count, and were reduced to ten men themselves on 31 minutes, when Mitchell Dijks brought down Wijnaldum in the box, handing Groningen a penalty. Nick van der Velden stepped up to chip the ball calmly into the net for 1-0.
After the break substitute Yanic Wildschut cracked a shot in off the bar to level the score at 1-1, and two minutes later Kenneth Otigba netted from a corner to give the home side the lead.
However only a minute later Groningen were level, with Johan Kappelhof finding the net with a curving free kick.
On 72 minutes Groningen goalkeeper Marco Bizot fouled Rajiv van la Parra in the box, giving Heerenveen a spot kick which was dispatched by Alfred Finnbogason.
Six minutes later Groningen thought they had the equaliser when Wijnaldum netted, but the referee blew for an offense by Tjarron Chery in the build up, earning the winger his second yellow, and reducing his team to nine men.
In the final minute Finnbogason made sure of the win by beating his man before firing through Bizot’s legs to make it 4-2.
Heerenveen are now up to third in the table, while Groningen slip to 9th after their second defeat of the season.
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