The day started for Feyenoord with more bad news: after receiving a potential club-record offer for star man Anis Hadj Moussa, the Algerian was omitted from the matchday squad after arriving late to a team meeting and the team bus later on Saturday.
Gaoussou Diarra took his place on the right, Luciano Valente moved from midfield to the left wing and was replaced by Oussama Targhalline, while Nacho Ferri made his full debut for Feyenoord.
An eventless opening half saw neither side create any worthwhile chances, with the most electric moment a scuffle between Luciano Valente and Noe Lebreton shortly before the break.
Feyenoord came out of half-time storming, with Gjivai Zechiel and Nacho Ferri both getting chances in a one-on-one with Gonzalo Crettaz, but both failing to beat the NEC stopper.
Zechiel redeemed himself shortly after, with Ferri picking up a wayward clearance from Darko Nejasmic and squaring it across goal, where Zechiel stood to roll it past Crettaz.
Nejasmic made up for his mistake of his own accord, picking the ball out of the air from a clearance and volleying it straight into Tjark Ernst's bottom corner to cancel out Zechiel's opener within three minutes.
The goals came flying left and right in the second half, with captain Luciano Valente next to get on the scoreboard by burying the ball in the bottom corner to cap off a flying counter.
Feyenoord debutant Jerayno Schaken made his presence known just minutes later, having tried his luck just after coming on and rewarding Giovanni van Bronckhorst's confidence with a beauty in the 63rd minute, wonderfully curling the ball into Crettaz's top corner to get Feyenoord up two and become the competition's youngest-ever debut scorer.
NEC were close to getting back within one when Tjaronn Chery was allowed to shoot from six yards out, but Jeremiah St. Juste set a perfect block to keep Feyenoord's lead intact with 15 minutes left in the match.
The hosts pushed and tried via Ayodele Thomas, Adam Tahaui, Lebreton, and Dennis Geiger, but missed every bit of firepower to threaten Feyenoord's lead in the final stages. The Rotterdam side rebounded from last week's disappointing 2-2 home draw against ADO Den Haag with a good win in Nijmegen, setting them up well for Tuesday's UEFA Champions League meeting with FC Barcelona.
NEC, meanwhile, lose their second Eredivisie home game of the season and will face Excelsior in Nijmegen next.
