Dusan Tadic helps NEC eliminate Olympiacos after extra time

NEC Nijmegen eliminated Olympiacos from Champions League qualifying with a 2-1 home victory after extra time. Dusan Tadic created the equaliser before Emre Mor completed the turnaround.

The first leg in Piraeus ended without a goal. NEC therefore advanced with the same two-goal aggregate score recorded in Nijmegen.

Olympiacos struck immediately after the break

Neither side scored during a cautious first half at De Goffert. The visitors changed the match one minute after the restart. Ayoub El Kaabi finished the move that put Olympiacos ahead. NEC now needed a goal simply to keep the qualifying tie alive.

The opening goal also changed the available space. NEC moved more players forward, while Olympiacos could protect a lead. Tadic continued to receive the ball between midfield and the left side. His passing gave NEC a steady route into the attacking third.

Tadic created the goal that forced extra time

NEC found the equaliser in the seventieth minute. Tadic supplied the final pass and Bryan Linssen converted the chance. The assist came at the most important stage of normal time. NEC had enough minutes to search for another goal without losing control. Tadic did not need to score to shape the contest. His delivery gave Linssen a clear action inside the decisive area. The Serbian midfielder also brought experience to a side making its first Champions League qualifying appearance. He kept the ball moving when the pressure increased.

Olympiacos lost Kostas Fortounis to a direct red card in the eightieth minute. The Greek side finished normal time with ten players. NEC could then stretch the play across the full width. Olympiacos had fewer players available to close passing lanes and defend second balls.

The dismissal did not produce an immediate winner. Both teams reached the end of normal time level at one goal each. Extra time created a fresh thirty-minute contest. NEC entered that period with an extra player and support from the home crowd.

Emre Mor settled the tie

Emre Mor scored five minutes into extra time. His finish gave NEC the lead for the first time across both legs. Olympiacos still had time to respond, but playing with ten reduced its attacking choices. NEC protected the advantage through the remaining period. The final whistle confirmed a 2-1 home win. The same score decided the tie because the first meeting had finished goalless. NEC’s two goals came from different moments. Linssen restored equality, while Mor supplied the finish that secured qualification.

NEC will face Bodo/Glimt in the play-off round. The Norwegian side advanced after beating Union Saint-Gilloise following extra time. That play-off will decide a place in the Champions League league phase. NEC has reached it during its first qualifying campaign in the competition. The next tie brings a different task from the Olympiacos contest. Bodo/Glimt regularly plays European matches and carries recent qualifying experience. NEC enters the play-off with evidence that it can recover from a goal down. The team also showed patience across more than ninety minutes.

Tadic supplied the central Serbian contribution

Tadic’s assist was the direct Serbian contribution to the result. It arrived when NEC was facing elimination in front of its supporters. His role was recorded through a direct assist for Linssen’s equaliser. That contribution is more precise than a general claim about influence on the match. The victory adds another European appearance to his long club career. It also keeps NEC within one qualifying round of the main competition. For Olympiacos, the red card and extra-time goal ended the campaign.

NEC moves forward after winning a close tie through two precise attacking actions. The goalless first leg made every goal in Nijmegen decisive. Olympiacos gained the first advantage immediately after halftime. El Kaabi’s finish forced NEC to chase the match without losing its defensive shape. Tadic helped the Dutch side keep possession in advanced areas. His pass for Linssen arrived before the contest became desperate. NEC then had twenty minutes to seek a winner in normal time. Fortounis’s dismissal changed the numerical balance during the closing stage. The home team used an extra player through the final minutes and both periods of extra time.

Linssen’s equaliser was the first goal across the entire tie. That detail explains why Tadic’s assist carried more value than a routine league contribution. NEC moved from elimination to a level aggregate position through one completed attack. Olympiacos could no longer protect the goal scored after halftime. The visitors also had to reorganise after losing their captain. NEC continued circulating the ball instead of forcing every pass toward the penalty area. That patience preserved energy for extra time and created the opening that Mor later used. Mor scored during the first extra-time period, leaving Olympiacos time to respond. NEC still needed to defend set pieces and direct attacks from ten opponents. The Dutch side protected its own area without surrendering the ball completely. Holding possession reduced the number of final attacks faced. Tadic remained available as an experienced passing option when NEC cleared pressure. The final whistle completed more than two hours of football across the tie without a penalty shootout. NEC advanced by scoring both of its goals at home.

Bodo/Glimt now stands between NEC and the league phase. The Norwegian club has recent experience in European group and knockout matches. Its home games are played on an artificial surface in northern Norway. Tadic enters the play-off after supplying a decisive qualifying assist. His experience includes Champions League campaigns with Ajax and Fenerbahce. NEC reached this stage after one goalless match and a 2-1 extra-time victory. The next tie will decide whether the Dutch club enters the league phase. The goalless first leg left neither team with an aggregate advantage before the return. El Kaabi’s goal became the first score across the tie. Linssen’s reply restored complete equality rather than only reducing a larger deficit. Mor then supplied the only goal of extra time. This sequence explains why NEC advanced without any away-goal calculation. Tadic remained on the field through the decisive phase and finished with the assist. His pass reached Linssen before Olympiacos received the red card. NEC had already created the equaliser against eleven opponents. The later dismissal increased the available space, and the Dutch side used that advantage during extra time.