Van Bergen strikes after the restart as Groningen sit fifth | OneFootball

Groningen beat Utrecht 2-1 at Euroborg to open their Eredivisie campaign in fifth, with Brynjolfur Willumsson and Thom van Bergen scoring either side of half time.

Willumsson struck in the eighth minute, a right-footed finish from the centre of the box. The forward thought he had a second, but a VAR review ruled it out for offside (35.).

After the restart, Thom van Bergen doubled the lead with a left-footed strike into the top left corner (48.). Substitute Adrian Blake halved the deficit to the bottom right corner from Davy Van den Berg's pass (79.).

The game paused for drinks in each half, and both sides lost a defender to injury, with Marco Rente withdrawn early and Siebe Horemans later.

Groningen saw 58.9% of the ball and attempted 16 shots, hitting the woodwork once. Utrecht produced 14 attempts and tested Etienne Vaessen with seven on target, but the goalkeeper made six saves.

Next, Groningen visit ADO Den Haag. Utrecht host AZ.