The ten men of Go Ahead Eagles salvaged a dramatic point following a 94th-minute equaliser from centre-half Gerrit Nauber, who disappointed the Fortuna Sittard faithful in the Eredivisie season opener.
Hosts Fortuna Sittard had two newcomers start up front: Panathinaikos loanee Dimitrios Limnios started on the right wing, whereas former Wolves striker Paul Gladon started in the point of attack. 21-year-old Philip Brittijn made his Fortuna debut after joining the club from De Graafschap, and the heart of the defence was formed by Indonesian international Justin Hubner and Shawn Adewoye.
Five days removed from their Johan Cruyff Shield loss, Go Ahead Eagles were looking to rebound and give their new Eredivisie campaign a good start at the place they won 3-0 last time out. The Eagles had to do that without Jakob Breum - the Danish starlet was dealing with a minor injury. Milan Smit started as the team's lone striker with Viktor Edvardsen behind him.
The home side barraged Go Ahead Eagles in the first half, but failed to take the lead when Adewoye deflected the ball into his own net and gave the visitors the lead after 29 minutes.
Brittijn made up for it in extra time: the midfielder tapped in the third Fortuna chance in a row after Paul Gladon handily extended a cross.
The second half started on the wrong foot for the visitors, who went down to ten men when Calvin Twigt got issued a red card after a rough tackle on Kristoffer Peterson was judged as aggravated foul play by VAR.
The red card knocked the wind out of the Eagles' sails and gave Fortuna Sittard the ultimate opportunity to attack Jari De Busser's goal. Ryan Fosso came close, but Fortuna forced themselves to fight for the lead longer than they wished.
It was substitute Luka Tunjic who made a late difference for the home side. Makan Aiko gave a perfect cross for the rushing Tunjic, whose effort was too strong for De Busser.
But nothing was said and done just yet, as Gerrit Nauber saved a dramatic point for the visitors with a 94th-minute goal from a corner. Fortuna stopper Matthijs Branderhorst completely missed Dean James' cross, giving Nauber the ball to score in front of an open goal.
The home supporters vowed for two penalties in the latter stages, but referee Rob Dieperink did not budge and blew for the end of the game at a 2-2 score. Fortuna Sittard failed to grab three points with their 36 attempts at goal, and Go Ahead Eagles will happily look back on grabbing a point with ten men.