The visitors took an unexpected lead through Joost Broerse, but goals either side of the interval by Blaise N'Kufo, from the penalty spot, and Orlando Engelaar gave Twente the advantage.

However, Utrecht secured a share of the spoils thanks to Gregor van Dijk's strike.

The home side took control from the whistle and Romano Denneboom shot narrowly wide before his pass moments later was driven over the bar by Engelaar.

The two players combined again in the eighth minute as Engelaar once more fired high off the mark, and Twente continued to threaten the Utrecht backline with Jeroen Heuback coming close following a defensive lapse from Lucian Sanmartean.

So it came as a surprise for the home faithful when Utrecht opened the scoring in the 27th minute thanks to a precision free-kick from Broerse.

Engelaar and Denneboom continued to squander chances for Twente, but they finally made their pressure count five minutes before the interval.

Heuback was brought to the ground by Sander Keller, and N'Kufo despatched the resulting penalty with ease.

Twente then took the lead two minutes after the interval with Engelaar making the most of Denneboom's cross before seeing off three defenders and drilling the ball past Utrecht goalkeeper Michel Vorm.

The lead lasted just nine minutes before Van Dijk hit the target, smashing home Sanmartean's lay-off from 18 yards out.

Twente battled hard for a winning goal, but Vorm pulled off stunning saves from Wout Brama, Denneboom and Luke Wilkshire to preserve the draw.