Mimoun Mahi scored twice inside the final 20 minutes to hand Groningen a 2-0 win over SBV Excelsior in the Eredivisie this evening.
The visitors made the brighter start as Khalid Karami got forward to get a shot away inside the opening five minutes, while Sergio Padt had to be alert in the Groningen goal to deny Jordan Botaka.
Michael de Leeuw had the first chance of the night for the hosts as he tried to drill the ball in from the edge of the box, but Filip Kurto parried it away from goal, before the rebound was blasted over.
Nigel Hasselbaink started to see plenty of the ball for Excelsior as they continued to create problems on the break, but he was unable to get the ball past the home side's keeper.
The visitors continued to look the more likely before the break, with Karami using his pace to get forward again, providing a low cross to Tom van Weert, but he was unable to keep his finish on target.
It was Groningen who were on the front foot in the second half though, as De Leeuw broke forward again before Albert Rusnak tried his luck, but both were denied by Kurto.
The hosts thought that they had opened the scoring with just over an hour on the clock as Danny Hoesen came off the bench to slot the ball into the bottom corner, but the striker was judged to be offside in the build-up.
Groningen had another chance just a couple of minutes later though as Kevin van Diermen conceded a free kick on the edge of the penalty area, allowing Mahi, who had also come on as a second-half substitute, to curl the ball into the top corner.
The home side looked the more dangerous in the final 10 minutes, and put the win beyond doubt with just a couple of minutes remaining as Mahi added his second, controlling a cross in from the right before drilling a low finish past Kurto.
The win is Groningen's first of the campaign, lifting them up to eighth in the table, while Excelsior slip to 16th, having secured just one point from their opening three games.
Sian Cowper
