As our head writer Will Burns was away on holiday the past two weekends he was unable to keep up on the Eredivisie reports. He returns with a quick round-up of the past two matchdays in the Dutch top flight.
The new leaders in the division are PSV Eindhoven on the back of a huge 4-0 win over fierce rivals Ajax. Frank de Boer’s defending champions tasted their biggest defeat on their since April 2009 when PSV put six past them. After a goal-less first half it was not until 53 mins when the floodgates opened. Slovenian striker Tim Matavz opened the floodgates in the 53rd minute following a mistake by Amsterdam goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer and then Jetro Willems, Oscar Hiljemark and Park Ji-Sung struck in rapid succession to finish off the visitors. It was a bad week for de Boer who suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat in the Nou Camp against Barcelona the previous Wednesday.
The weekend after, the Eindhoven suffered their first defeat of the Eredivisie season losing 2-1 away to AZ Alkmaar. The league leaders fell behind in the 21st minute when an unmarked Nick Viergever headed in from a corner kick. Memphis Depay went close to levelling the score five minutes later, he fired a strike wide, via the fingertips of the keeper. However, Depay was not to be denied the equaliser, with the 19-year-old on target in the 35th minute with a wonderfully hit free-kick. However, the hosts went ahead in the 57th minute, through a stunning strike from Aron Johannsson. PSV remain top despite the defeat as AZ move up to third in the table.
After receiving the thumping from PSV on matchday 7, Ajax dished out a demolition of their own hitting Go Ahead Eagles for six. De Boer’s side desperately needed a response after their 4-0 mauling and duly delivered a morale-boosting performance. Like a week earlier, Ajax went into the break goal-less but a 48th-minute Jop van der Linden own goal opening the scoring. Young winger Lesley De Sa made it two in the 50th minute while Icelandic striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson’s quickfire brace complete a spell of four goals in five minutes. It was 5-0 when Lerin Duarte fired home in the 64th minute while Siem De Jong completed the scoring with 21 minutes remaining as Ajax moved into second place, level on 14 points with PEC Zwolle, who were held to a 0-0 draw at home to NAC Breda.
A week earlier Zwolle had slumped to a second successive defeat, going down 3-0 at Vitesse. On-loan Chelsea attacker Lucas Piazon scored twice for the Arnhem side, with his goals in the 35th and 88th minutes sandwiching a strike from Kelvin Leerdam.
Feyenoord continued their improved form with a 1-0 home win over FC Utrecht, Tonny Vilhena netting the only goal 10 minutes before half-time, while NAC Breda beat AZ Alkmaar 3-0. Danny Verbeek, Rydell Poepon and Elson Hooi all struck second-half goals for NAC who have now won back-to-back matches and scored eight times in the process having started the season with three defeats and two draws.
WEEK 7 RESULTS
Friday 20th September
GO AHEAD EAGLES 0-0 CAMBUUR
Saturday 21st September
HERACLES 0-3 FC TWENTE
FC GRONINGEN 4-1 RKC WAALWIJK
ADO DEN HAAG 1-1 NEC NIJMEGEN
RODA JC 3-3 HEERENVEEN
Sunday 22nd September
VITESSE 3-0 PEC ZWOLLE
FEYENOORD 1-0 FC UTRECHT
NAC BREDA 3-0 AZ ALKMAAR
PSV EINDHOVEN 4-0 AJAX
WEEK 8 RESULTS
Saturday 28th September
AZ ALKMAAR 2-1 PSV EINDHOVEN
RKC WAALWIJK 1-4 HERACLES
FC UTRECHT 3-3 RODA JC
PEC ZWOLLE 0-0 NAC BREDA
AJAX 6-0 GO AHEAD EAGLES
Sunday 29th September
NEC NIJMEGEN 2-3 VITESSE
HEERENVEEN 2-1 CAMBUUR
FEYENOORD 4-2 ADO DEN HAAG
FC TWENTE 5-0 FC GRONINGEN
STANDINGS
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