Telstar 2-2 Willem II: Kehrer Equalises in the 81st Minute to Deny Visitors Three Eredivisie Points

How the Goals Went In

Telstar drew first blood in the 14th minute through R. Meerveld, who converted an assist from K. Vaesen to put the hosts in front. The opener set the tempo for an open, attack-minded afternoon in Haarlem, with both sides prepared to commit players forward.

Willem II's response came via an unlikely route. In the 56th minute, R. Sigurgeirsson turned the ball into his own net, gifting the visitors an equaliser and resetting the scoreline to 1-1. The own goal shifted momentum firmly toward the away side, who pushed for the lead rather than settling for a share of the points.

That lead arrived nine minutes later. Y. El Kachati finished off a move worked through D. Bakker in the 65th minute, putting Willem II ahead at 2-1. A composed finish that appeared, at that moment, to be the winning goal given the precarious league position both clubs occupy.

Telstar refused to accept the deficit. Twelve minutes from time, E. Kehrer drove home a second equaliser, again supplied by the industrious K. Vaesen — his second assist of the afternoon. The 81st-minute goal meant Vaesen had a direct hand in both Telstar goals and ensured a 2-2 final scoreline.

The Bookings

Devon Koswal picked up the first caution of the afternoon in the 16th minute, just two minutes after Meerveld's opener as the physical tempo escalated early. Raffael Behounek was cautioned in the 61st minute, shortly after Sigurgeirsson's own goal had levelled the match, in a sequence that reflected the friction building through the second half. Boris Lambert received the third and final yellow card in the 86th minute as both sides pushed for a winner that never arrived.

Standings and the Numbers

Willem II sit 16th in the Eredivisie table on 26 points. Their recent form — DLLDL across the last five outings, amounting to two draws and three defeats — tells the story of a side that is collecting points in ones rather than threes. A draw here does nothing to change that arithmetic. The pattern of results indicates a team capable of getting into winning positions, as they did today, but unable to defend them to the final whistle.

Telstar, operating in the lower half of the table themselves, will take the point at face value given they spent part of the second half trailing. Vaesen's double contribution underlines his importance to everything constructive the home side attempt in attack.

What It Means for Each Side

For Telstar, coming from behind twice on the same afternoon — absorbing the own-goal equaliser, falling behind to El Kachati, then responding through Kehrer — shows some competitive backbone. A home defeat would have been the harder outcome to absorb, and Kehrer's goal in the 81st minute preserved something from a difficult second-half sequence.

For Willem II, the inability to hold a 2-1 lead with nine minutes remaining is the damage that will linger. El Kachati's 65th-minute goal put the win squarely in the visitors' hands. Allowing Kehrer to level so late is the precise type of lapse that defines a struggling run of results. Leaving Haarlem with one point instead of three, from a position of advantage, represents the clearest summary of what DLLDL form actually looks like from the inside.

The Road Ahead

Willem II's most pressing task is stopping the sequence of draws and defeats from extending further. Sitting 16th, every dropped point from a winning position narrows the options for building a sustainable gap above the relegation playoff places. The side will need to find a way to close out games once they take the lead — getting ahead is clearly within their capacity, as today showed, but protecting it is where the points are being lost.

For Telstar, the late Kehrer equaliser gives the squad a reference for what a resilient performance looks like. Vaesen's double assist is the individual thread worth following into their next fixture.

SportGlance verdict: This draw flatters Telstar more than Willem II — the visitors led 2-1 in the 65th minute and left with one point instead of three, extending a DLLDL run that keeps their Eredivisie position uncomfortably tight. Kehrer's 81st-minute intervention, built on Vaesen's second assist of the afternoon, was the decisive moment; for Willem II, the inability to hold a late lead is the performance issue that will need answering before their next match.