Vasilios Barkas returned in goal for Utrecht, where Derry John Murkin, Niklas Vesterlund, and Miliano Jonathans were given starts ahead of Souffian El Karouani, Siebe Horemans, and Miguel Rodriguez. David Min returned from a concussion and got the start as the team's lone striker over Noah Ohio.
Min got Utrecht going in the first half, almost scoring with the first big chance of the match, but Goran Karacic expertly parried the ball.
The tall striker got his second opportunity not much later - referee Georgi Kabakov first refused to give a penalty for a handball from Peter Mamic, but was corrected after a VAR review and handed the visitors a spot-kick. Min got behind the ball and stayed calm, putting Utrecht up 1-0 in the 39th minute.
Miliano Jonathans got one more shot at putting Utrecht up two, but had his shot blocked.
As it started pouring buckets from the heavens, Zrinjski got the second half underway with a header from Nemnja Bilbija, but Barkas kept Utrecht in the game. Victor Jensen could've put Utrecht up two instead next, but couldn't head the ball past Karacic.
A soaked pitch did not improve the pace of the game or the entertainment value, with both teams struggling to create big chances in the final thirty minutes.
A late rush from Utrecht, who focused on countering against Zrinjski in the latter stages of the match, saw Gjivai Zechiel whip in a lovely ball towards Victor Jensen, whose header was too powerful for Karacic and put Utrecht up 2-0.
An effort from Zrinjski whistled past the post, after which the Bosnians ended the game with ten men following left-back Petar Mamic's second yellow card for a clumsy foul near the halfway line.
FC Utrecht grabbed a pivotal 2-0 lead in the first leg and will welcome Zrinjski in a sold-out Stadion Galgenwaard next week, when FC Utrecht will want to secure their first spot in the UEFA Europa League's main draw since 2011.
Check out all the match statistics on Flashscore.
