Vitesse Arnhem qualified for next season's Europa League at the expense of RKC Waalwijk after wrapping up a comfortable 5-2 aggregate victory
RKC Waalwijk lose out in bid for Europe after second leg defeat
Vitesse Arnhem qualified for next season's Europa League at the expense of RKC Waalwijk after wrapping up a comfortable 5-2 aggregate victory in Sunday afternoon's second-leg play-off.
John van den Brom's men had taken a giant stride coming into the clash after claiming a 3-1 win at the Mandemakers Stadium on Thursday and Wilfried Bony set them on their way in the third minute.
Although Geoffrey Castillion's well-taken strike levelled the scores on the day in the 74th minute, RKC never looked capable of launching a famous comeback and Renato Ibarra gave Vitesse a three-goal cushion once again in the 84th minute.
Bony, who scored a brace against RKC on Thursday, was once again on target to maintain his record of scoring in every play-off game in which he has played.
The Ivory Coast international converted Alexander Buttner's free-kick from the right to give Vitesse the ideal start.
And the hosts continued to dominate, with Bony going close once again. After a one-two with Nicky Hofs, Bony's strike was well saved by Jeroen Zoet.
Hofs then teed up with Ibarra, who went through on goal before his effort was well pushed away by Zoet, while Jonathan Reis was also thwarted by the RKC goalkeeper shortly before the interval.
After a relatively incident-free second-half, RKC gave themselves a slight chance of forcing a tense finale when Castillion lobbed Piet Velthuizen from just inside the area 16 minutes from time.
But any nerves were eased in the 84th minute when Bony set up Ibarra, who slotted past Zoet.
