Heerenveen have it all to do in the second leg of their Eredivisie play-off semi-final tie against FC Twente after falling to a 2-1 defeat to 'The Pride of the East' in the first leg at the Abe Lenstra Stadium last night.

After a quiet opening, FC Twente took the lead with an excellent team goal which was finished off by the lively Václav Černý. The Czechia attacker advanced across the box, linking-up with two teammates before dispatching his effort into the bottom corner of the Heerenveen net.

The hosts fought back and they levelled the scores in first half stoppage time. Thom Haye struck a shot from 25 yards and his effort whistled beyond FC Twente keeper Lars Unnerstall who was a spectator in goal.

In the second half, Manfred Ugalde saw an effort cleared off the line as FC Twente searched for the game's winning goal. There was then some late drama as FC Twente struck their own post before they went up the other end and won the match in the 93rd minute, Ugalde firing the ball across goal and into the far corner of the net from close range.

The tie remains finely-poised going into Sunday's second leg at De Grolsch Veste, however, FC Twente will be the heavy favourites given their first leg lead along with their 18-point advantage over Heerenveen at the end of the regular season.

  • Little to separate the two sides at the Abe Lenstra Stadium

Prior to the second half injury time drama, the two sides looked destined to go into Sunday's second leg on level terms. FC Twente had the greater spells of attacking play but Heerenveen defended resolutely and offered few clear sights of goal to their opponents.

When speaking exclusively with VAVEL after the match, Heerenveen captain Paweł Bochniewicz said that there was little to separate the two sides but he had no complaints about FC Twente's late winner.

"Twente are a really good team and when you get a chance in the final minutes, you have to score it to reach the final of the play-offs," Bochniewicz said.

"In football, it’s always like this; you don’t score and then the opponent goes up the other end and gets a goal.

"We were competitive in the game, the game was pretty equal. They maybe had a little bit more control over the course of the 90 minutes but you can say it was an equal game.

"Hopefully, we can go and get a result in the second leg on Sunday."

  • FC Twente's aggressive press one of the Eredivisie's best

FC Twente's front three of Černý, Ugalde and Virgil Misidjan were a constant threat to the Heerenveen back-line. They attacked with pace and creativity when in possession whilst pressing their opponents high up the field when without the ball.

Bochniewicz went on to explain how difficult it is for opposition defenders to play against FC Twente's attack, commenting that they are one of the best teams in the league at doing what they do.

He said "When you see how they play and how they press high, they are one of the best teams in the league, if not the best. Their press is so high, so good, it’s really aggressive. It is so hard for them to keep at that level for 90 minutes and I think they know it.

"In the first half, it was so hard but then they dropped a little bit in the second half. That’s what an experienced team does when they maybe feel like they are getting tired, keep their lines closed and they did that.

"Tactically, they are a really good team in this league and it is hard to play against them."

  • Anything can happen in football

Heerenveen have a mountain to climb in the second leg if they are to reach the Eredivisie play-off final but Bochniewicz says that anything can happen in football and that his side will give their all.

"Of course, we can go there and win," the defender said. "If that last chance had gone in, it’d have been 2-1 to us.

"It’s football, you never know but we go there knowing that it will be tough. Their fans make a lot of noise, they’re their 12th player, and their stadium is amazing.

"Anything is possible. We will go there looking for the win and hopefully, we can achieve that."