NEC Nijmegen were leading the race for third place in the Eredivisie, which grants a spot in the third round of the UEFA Champions League qualifiers. NEC led Ajax and FC Twente by a point, but have yet to win after losing the KNVB Beker final 5-1 to AZ in April.
looked to have woken the game up after 12 minutes through Bryan Linssen, who miraculously fired the ball into Etienne Vaessen's top corner from the backline, were it not for the striker doing so from an offside position.
Instead, FC Groningen took the lead when it hurts most - Marco Rente headed in a lovely cross from Younes Taha in the final seconds of injury time, putting Groningen on the front foot and blowing the fight for third wide open.
The hosts kept on going in the second half, with Tygo Land doubling the lead in the 51st minute with a deflected shot, thus also doubling NEC's trouble in the fight for UEFA Champions League football.
NEC picked up the pace following Land's goal and fought for the point it needed to keep up with FC Twente and Ajax, while FC Groningen held onto their lead for dear life with a play-off ticket virtually in the pocket.
Danilo looked to put NEC back within one, but was blocked by Thijmen Blokzijl. Instead, Darko Nejasmic scored NEC's first goal of the afternoon from the ensuing corner, giving the visitors a lifeline.
NEC's power duo of Sami Ouaissa and Başar Önal got NEC fully back in it for a minute, but saw Önal's goal get ruled out after the Turkish-Dutch winger was ruled offside in a VAR check.
NEC were hit with more offside heartache in injury time, with Youssef El Kachati ruled offside after seemingly scoring the 2-2.