A solitary strike from Valeri Qazaishvili was enough to settle the Gelderse derby as Vitesse saw off NEC Nijmegen 1-0.
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With NEC in the Eerste Divisie last season, the match on Sunday was the first meeting of the two fierce rivals for 22 months. Vitesse made the much better start to the game but despite pinning NEC into their own half they failed to create any clear cut chances.
It was the away side who came the closest to scoring early on with Anthony Limbombe sending a free kick just over the bar, while centre back Tod Kane also came close. However five minutes before the break Vitesse finally did create a meaningful chance with Valeri Qazaishvili turning away from his marker before curling a shot into the bottom corner to put the home side ahead.
NEC looked for the equaliser after the break, but Navarone Foor and Christian Santos both missed decent chances as Vitesse held on.
Vitesse now climb above their rivals into fifth while NEC slip to seventh.
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