Zechiël scores and assists as Utrecht climb to 10th | OneFootball

Utrecht beat NEC Nijmegen 3-1 at Goffertstadion, with Gjivai Zechiël inspiring an early surge as the visitors rose from 13th to 10th in the Eredivisie.

Ángel Alarcón opened the scoring in the fifth minute, finishing from outside the box after Zechiël's through ball on a fast break.

On the stroke of half time Zechiël doubled the lead (45.), drilling low to the bottom left from Artem Stepanov's pass.

After the restart, Yoann Cathline swept in a third (49.) from Souffian El Karouani's delivery. Darko Nejasmic then pulled one back from range (59.) for the hosts.

NEC's pressure kept coming, but Vasilis Barkas made six saves as Utrecht protected their advantage.

Alarcón twice struck the woodwork, hitting the left post (23.) and the right post later on (74.).

NEC Nijmegen had 75.5% possession and 24 attempts. Utrecht registered 11 attempts and cleared 50 times.

NEC Nijmegen remain third and visit Sparta Rotterdam next. Utrecht travel to Groningen next.