NEC Nijmegen were a goal down early, level at the break and ahead for good before the hour. By the end they had won 4-2 in Zagreb, and the Dutch side's second-half composure was what separated them from a home team that looked rattled once the lead was gone.
Bischoff puts NEC in front, Beljo turns it round
NEC took the lead in the 25th minute. Noe Lebreton found Clement Bischoff in the centre of the box and the midfielder finished right-footed into the bottom left corner. Dinamo did not stay behind for long. In the 33rd minute Dion Beljo met a cross from Matteo Perez Vinlof and headed in from the right side of the six-yard box to make it 1-1.
Four minutes later Beljo struck again. A fast break left him with the ball from very close range and he put it into the bottom right corner for 2-1. With the home crowd up, it looked as if Dinamo might have found the platform they wanted.
Linssen answers before the break
NEC needed a response and got one in the 45th minute. Bischoff delivered, and Bryan Linssen rose in the centre of the box to head into the top left corner. At 2-2 NEC went into the interval with the momentum, and Dinamo came out for the second half having lost their lead at the worst moment.
Within nine minutes of the restart the visitors were in front. Linssen picked out Tjaronn Chery on a fast break in the 54th minute and Chery sent a left-footed shot from the centre of the box into the centre of the goal. It was a quick, clean counter-attack, and Dinamo had no answer for it.
Chery seals it
The game was still alive until the 80th minute, when Chery struck again. This one went in off his left foot from the centre of the box into the top left corner, and it killed the contest. Dinamo kept trying, with Mislav Orsic forcing a save from Gonzalo Crettaz in the NEC goal in the 85th minute and Lukas Kacavenda firing high and wide soon after, but NEC saw it out. Linssen and Chery were both replaced right at the 90-minute mark by Kaj Sierhuis and Willum Willumsson, a tidy bit of game management, and Bischoff was booked for a foul in added time.
For NEC it is a statement of a result away from home in Europe, built on a front line that scored three of the four and set up the other. For Dinamo Zagreb, two goals from Beljo were not enough, and conceding four at home will hurt.
Match facts: Dinamo Zagreb 2-4 NEC Nijmegen, UEFA Europa League league stage, Thursday 22 October 2026. Goals: Bischoff 25', Beljo 33', Beljo 37', Linssen 45', Chery 54', Chery 80'. Booking: Bischoff (NEC) 90'+2. Source: BBC Sport match data.
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