Dušan Tadić chose Utrecht to announce himself at NEC. The veteran scored his first two goals for the club, one in each half, and NEC needed both of them — plus Kevin Kers' opener — to survive a second-half fightback and leave Stadion Galgenwaard with a 3-2 win on Sunday.
It completed a remarkable Eredivisie Sunday: 31 goals across the day's games, comebacks everywhere, and a title race blown open above these two. Down in the bottom half, this was the game that kept giving until the final whistle.
Kers and Tadić put NEC in control
Utrecht started the evening on the front foot but had nothing to show for it when NEC struck first on 34 minutes. Mitchel Bakker crossed and Kevin Kers headed home from the centre of the box to put the visitors in front.
Four minutes later came the moment NEC's fans had been waiting for since Tadić arrived. Deveron Fonville set him up and the Serbian swept a left-footed finish from outside the box into the bottom corner — his first goal for the club, recorded in full on the Sky Sports live timeline. NEC went in 2-0 up at half-time, and Utrecht were chasing a game that had slipped away from them in six minutes.
A fightback that fell one goal short
The hosts finally replied on 56 minutes, Ángel Alarcón breaking quickly and feeding Yoann Cathline, who finished from the left side of the six-yard box. For two minutes Galgenwaard believed — and then Tadić killed the noise. On 58 minutes he arrived again on the left side of the box and lifted his second high into the net to restore the two-goal cushion.
Utrecht would not go quietly. Nordin Amrabat crossed on 64 minutes and Dani de Wit headed in to make it 3-2, the 31st and final goal of a wild Eredivisie Sunday, as the Flashscore roundup put it. The last 25 minutes brought pressure, five yellow cards across the afternoon in total, and no equaliser. Referee Erwin Blank's whistle confirmed Utrecht's second straight defeat.
What this does to the bottom half
For NEC, this is the kind of away win that changes a season's mood. They had already shown in Europe what this squad can do — and a veteran of Tadić's class opening his account with a brace, away from home, gives their attack a focal point it had been missing. The goals were not scruffy, either: one swept finish, one ice-cold second at the exact moment the game threatened to turn.
For Utrecht, the pattern is the problem. Twice in two weeks they have been beaten at home in games they were in, and a defence that conceded twice in six first-half minutes here will face the same questions again after the international break. The Eredivisie returns with PSV top after their 5-2 win at Cambuur, while Ajax were held in the controversial 2-2 draw at Twente — the top is moving away from everyone, and the bottom half is compressing fast.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Tadić at 37 was supposed to be a nostalgia signing. On Sunday he was the difference in a five-goal game — two finishes of pure craft, timed to break Utrecht first and break their comeback second. NEC did not just buy experience; on this evidence, they bought the calmest head in the bottom half of the Eredivisie.
Is Tadić still good enough to drag NEC into the European play-off places this season? Have your say below.
