Utrecht easily advanced to the play-off final after a 2-1 win at the Stadion Galgenwaard saw them triumph over Heerenveen 5-2 on aggregate.

Heerenveen gave a first start to 16-year-old Kik Pierie as they sought to overturn a 3-1 first leg deficit and they should have taken the lead early on when Sam Larsson raced in on goal, but the winger couldn’t fire past David Jensen.

After half an hour, Ramon Leeuwin swept a corner into the bottom corner to put Utrecht ahead and before the break, Richairo Zivkovic settled the tie when he seized on a terrible pass by Erwin Mulder before slotting the ball past the Heerenveen stopper.

In the second half, Heerenveen midfielder Yuki Kobayashi hit the bar before Willem Janssen conceded a penalty after bringing down Sam Larsson. Reza Ghoochannejhad made no mistake from the spot to make it 2-1.

There was to be no comeback, though, and Yassin Ayoub really should have made it 3-1 but he could only fire over from point blank range. At the other end, Martin Odegaard hit the post as Heerenveen’s season ended with a whimper.

Utrecht now advances to the play-off final which will be played over two legs, beginning on the 25th and ending on the 28th. They will either face AZ or Groningen who meet later on Saturday.




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