FC Volendam were put into the relegation play-offs after losing 2-1 to Telstar over the weekend, courtesy of an 89th-minute penalty scored by Telstar goalkeeper Ronald Koeman Jr.
Against Willem II, who were relegated from the Eredivisie after losing last year's relegation play-off final against Telstar, FC Volendam got handed a two-goal lead on a silver platter - Per van Loon simply gave Bilal Ould-Chikh the ball, allowing the Moroccan midfielder to easily slot it into Thomas Didillon-Hödl's goal, soon after which Henk Veerman got the ball from Didillon-Hödl and put it in an empty net after dribbling around the French stopper.
The hosts from Tilburg pulled back within one after Nick Doodeman neatly placed the ball in Roy Steur's far corner, but were happy to still be down only one after Didillon-Hödl and the woodwork kept Benjamin Pauwels and World Cup-bound Brandley Kuwas from scoring.
FC Volendam deservedly won the match 2-1 and will defend a one-goal lead in Saturday's second leg of the relegation play-off final, which will kick off at 20.00 CET.