Ajax have let the other title challengers have a glimpse of stealing away the Eredivisie championship from the champions after dropping two vital points at home to Marco van Basten’s Heerenveen on Friday night. PSV and Feyenoord steamed into second and third both with wins over the weekend.
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Friday 19th April 2013
Ajax 1 (Fischer 26)
Heerenveen 1 (Finnbogason 53)
Friday night at the Amsterdam Arena, Marco van Basten’s Heerenveen side held league leaders Ajax dropped points to a 1-1 draw, opening the door for the chasing pack. Hosts Ajax led through Danish prodigy Viktor Fischer’s goal 26 minutes into the match, only for the in-form Alfreð Finnbogason to level eight minutes into the second half. Seventh-placed Heerenveen delighted coach Van Basten, a former Ajax favourite, eight minutes into the second half when midfielder Sven Kums delivered a cross from the right and Finnbogason struck his 24th league goal of the season. Ajax were unable to force a winner late on.
Although PSV and Feyenoord picked up wins over the weekend, with just three rounds of the season remaining, Ajax remain odds-on favourites to retain their league title.
HIGHLIGHTS
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Saturday 20th April 2013
FC Groningen 2 (Zeefuik 38, Texeira 42)
ADO Den Haag 1 (Jansen 75)
Gronigen continued their winning streak to four with a 2-1 over ADO. Both teams had a man sent off as Groningen edged into the final Europa League play-off spot. Goals from Genero Zeefuik and David Texeira were enough to secure victory for Groningen, who did wobble when defender Virgil van Dijk was sent off in the 64th minute. Kevin Jansen halved the deficit in the 75th minute but 11 minutes later he was following Van Dijk down the tunnel after seeing red.
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Heracles 4 (Quansah 42P, Vejinovic 65, Everton 71, 85)
RKC Waalwijk 0
Heracles halted a three-game losing streak in emphatic fashion on Saturday evening, running riot on RKC Waalwijk 4-0 at Polman Stadion, Almelo. The match failed to find a goal until three minutes before the halftime break when Kwame Quansah converted a penalty kick for his first goal of the season. The second half was one-way traffic as Marko Vejinovic doubled the home side’s advantage in the 65th minute before a brace from Everton put the victory beyond any doubt. The result sees Heracles jump to ninth place with 37 points and RKC Waalwijk remain fourth from bottom on 31 points.
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Willem II 2 (Haastrup 50, Joachim 60P)
Roda JC 1 (Malki 88)
Basement boys Willem II won their first game in five at home to Roda JC despite a late rally for the Kerkrade side. Philipp Haastrup and Benoît Joachim notched for the home side after a goalless first half. Roda’s top scorer Sanharib Malki grabbed a late goal but his team were unable to grab another to clinch a point.
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AZ Alkmaar 1 (Johannsson 86)
PSV Eindhoven 3 (Van Bommel 36, Mertens 57, Lens 61)
PSV dominated AZ Alkmaar 3-1 in the late Saturday night game to keep the pressure on league leaders Ajax. It was a trademark Mark Van Bommel free kick that was blasted past AZ ‘keeper Esteban Alvarado on 36 minutes to put the visitors 1-0 at the break. The second goal came just before the hour mark as some good work from midfield dynamo Kevin Strootman set-up Belgian winger Dries Mertens for his 14th league goal of the season. PSV cemented the points just after the hour with a Jermaine Lens low left footed effort. AZ grabbed a consolation goal as Johann Berg Gudmundsson smashed a ball across the face of goal for Aron Johannsson to finish.
PSV are now four points off their title rivals Ajax and will need to win their remaining games and hope Ajax slip up.
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Sunday 21st April 2013
VVV Venlo 2 (Roseler 18, Nwofor 23)
FC Twente 2 (Bengtsson 58, Castaignos 59)
FC Twente claimed a dramatic point at De Koel on Sunday against VVV Venlo thanks to two goals in the span of a minute. Nils Roseler and Nwofor Uche had given Venlo a two-goal edge by halftime, but it was Rasmus Bengtsson and Luc Castaignos scoring in the 58th and 59th minutes, respectively, to earn visiting Twente a share of the spoils with the 2-2 draw.
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FC Utrecht 3 (Van der Hoorn 14, Toornstra 18, Duplan 74)
NAC Breda 0
Utrecht moved to within two points of FC Twente by cruising past NAC in a 3-0 victory at the Stadion Galgenwaard on Sunday. Mike van der Hoorn and Jens Toornstra scored in the first half while Edouard Duplan wrapped up the affair 16 minutes from time.
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NEC 1 (George 49)
PEC Zwolle 3 (Mokhtar 18, Benson 23, Klich 85)
In a mid-table clash, PEC Zwolle grabbed another win, this time at the expense of NEC on Sunday afternoon at the Goffertstadion. Former Jong PSV striker Youness Mokhtar scored the opening goal in the 18th minute with Fred Benson hitting home a second five minutes later. Leroy George got NEC back into the game just after half-time but with just five minutes remaining, 22-year-old Polish midfielder Mateusz Klich made sure of all three points with his first goal for the club since moving from Wolfsburg in January.
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Feyenoord 2 (Pelle 39P, Immers 50)
Vitesse Arnhem 0
Feyenoord climbed to third place by claiming a 2-0 win over Vitesse at De Kuip Stadion. Italian striker Graziano Pelle converted a penalty kick in the 39th minute while Lex Immers struck five minutes after half-time to put the result beyond any doubt. Feyenoord improves to 63 points on the season, bringing the club level with PSV and two points clear of fourth-place Vitesse.
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LEAGUE TABLE
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