Blaise Nkufo put the hosts ahead in the 32nd minute before late goals from Romano Denneboom and Stein Huysegems sealed the victory in the opening leg of their first round play-off.

Twente's cause was helped considerably by the dismissals of Breda's Patrick Mtiliga and Ronnie Stam in the 65th and 77th minutes respectively.

Before the match, NAC coach Ernie Brandts had questioned how well Twente would play in the Arke Stadion in Emmen, their home while their Enschede ground is renovated.

And this seemingly gave the hosts added motivation as they almost scored after eight minutes. Denneboom picked up the rebound when NAC goalkeeper Jelle Ten Rouwelaar spilled Orlando Engelaar's free-kick but was denied by the left post.

NAC had to wait until the half-hour mark for their first glimpse of goal when Sander Boschker saved well from Kurt Elshot's powerful strike.

But the home side broke the deadlock two minutes later. Another free-kick from Engelaar was headed goalwards by Rob Wielaert, who saw the ball hit the post and bounce out for Nkufo to tap in.

NAC were lucky not to be further behind at half-time when both Wielaert and Nkufo hit the woodwork in a frantic 60 second spell before Denneboom eventually punted the ball over the bar.

Twente continued to dominate after the restart and Douglas Franco should have done better with a free header which he directed over the bar after Ten Rouwelaar had made a mess of his clearance.

And things only got worse for NAC with two dismissals in 12 minutes. Mtiliga was the first to walk after picking up a second yellow card and Stam was shown a straight red for a verbal attack on the referee.

Twente were quick to make their numerical advantage count. Denneboom made it 2-0 after 80 minutes, powering home from eight yards after Eljero Elia's pass.

And a third goal followed in stoppage time from Huysegems, who turned Karim El Ahmadi's cross from the left wing into the bottom right corner.

The second leg takes place in Breda on Saturday with the winner set to face either Ajax or Heerenveen in the play-off final.