For the second round of games in a row, once again Vitesse failed to find the win that would have, albeit temporarily, took Peter Bosz’s side top of the Eredivisie. The Arnhem side tasted defeat for only the fourth time this season against Dick Advocaat’s AZ Alkmaar. Elsewhere, Feyenoord won to move four points within leaders Ajax and Heracles grabbed an emphatic but vital victory over ADO Den Haag.
Tuesday 4th February 2014
RODA JC 1-2 FEYENOORD
Ronald Koeman’s Feyenoord keep up with the leading pack in the Eredivisie on Tuesday night with a 2-1 away win to a plucky Roda JC side.
Feyenoord are now four points adrift of leaders Ajax, but the defending champions have a game in hand.
Lex Immers fired the away side in the lead with just 13 minutes gone. Roda defender Ard van Peppen failed to clear a Graziano Pellè chip into the box and Immers collected on the edge of area, stormed and finished with a low drive past Filip Kurto.
The visitors pressed for a second goal and just before half-time the game look done and dusted. Pellè and Immers again involved, with the Italian playing in Immers, whose shot was parried by Kurto into the path of Samuel Armenteros, who notched his first goal for the club.
After the interval, Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side looked a different team and attacked Feyenoord from the whistle but were unable to find a goal until the 76th minute. The ever-dangerous Arnaud Sutchuin surged into the area, but following him was Immers who stretched for the ball but brought the Cameroonian down. Moroccan midfielder Anouar Kali stepped up to convert and sent Erwin Mulder the other way.
Koeman dropped his team deep to save the three points and it worked a treat as the Rotterdam side held on and are now on 40 points.
RODA: Kurto, Monteyne, Luijckx, Biemans, Van Peppen (Ramos 89), Hupperts, Sutchuin, Donald, Kali, Jansen, Shkurtaj (Pluim 62).
SUBS NOT USED: Prus, Bonevacia, Hocher, Letschert, Jacobs.
GOALS: Kali 77P.
BOOKINGS: Kali, Hupperts.
FEYENOORD: Mulder, Janmaat, De Vrij, Kongolo, Martins Indi, Clasie, Immers, Vilhena, Armenteros (Goossens 79), Pellè, Boëtius.
SUBS NOT USED: Graafland, Verhoek, Bakkal, Nelom, Te Vrede, Van Beek.
GOALS: Immers 12, Armenteros 45.
BOOKINGS: Immers.
ADO DEN HAAG 0-3 HERACLES
ADO suffered their fifth loss in their last six outings which sent the Den Haag club to the bottom of the division and cost Maurice Steijn his job.
Steijn was sacked on Wednesday morning just a few hours after they suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat at home to Heracles. The visitors got off to a great start with the in-form Bryan Linssen put Heracles ahead in just two minutes. Mark Uth and Linssen combined in the area until the latter placed a shot home past Gino Coutinho.
It was then the turn of Mark Uth to notch after 34 minutes with a great header. Down the right-wing, Mikhail Rosheuvel whipped a ball into the front post and the striker, on-loan from Heerenveen, nipped ahead of his marker to nod past Coutinho.
Just before the hour mark the scoring was completed and it was Uth again on the scoresheet. Rosheuvel attacked down the middle while the ADO defender backed off, with Uth overlapping down the left. Rosheuvel played the striker in and he finished in style to make it 3-0 and confirm the three points for Heracles, and sent ADO crashing down to the bottom of the Eredivisie.
ADO: Coutinho, Malone, Beugelsdijk, Zuiverloon, Holla, Meijers, Van Haaren (Gouriye 47 (Kanon 85)), Alberg, Kramer, Van Duinen, Schet.
SUBS NOT USED: Zwinkels, Wormgoor, Gehrt, Bakker, Cabral.
GOALS: None.
BOOKINGS: Alberg.
HERACLES: Pasveer, Te Wierik, Schenkeveld, Veldmate, Davidson, Rienstra, Cziommer (Bruns 79), Bel Hassani, Rosheuvel, Uth (Amoah 85), Linssen (Van Dijk 51).
SUBS NOT USED: Telgenkamp, Tannane, Belterman, Powel.
GOALS: Linssen 2, Uth 34, 57.
BOOKINGS: None.
VITESSE 0-2 AZ ALKMAAR
Second-placed Vitesse Arnhem missed the chance to move ahead of Ajax temporarily after losing only their fourth game of the season to Dick Advocaat’s AZ Alkmaar.
AZ played Dortmund-like, high up the pitch with relentless immediate pressure from the kick-off. Pressing Vitesse in their own half, AZ kept possession well and were nearly a goal up after ten minutes. The hosts failed to clear a free-kick from the right and the ball fell perfectly for Roy Beerans from 35-yards out who hit the ball first time, Vitesse goalkeeper Piet Velthuizen scrambled across the goal to tip wide.
On twenty minutes, AZ found themselves in front with the unfortunate Patrick van Aanholt scoring an own goal. Beerens forced himself forward with the ball and laid the ball to the left to Aron Johansson. Johansson cut in and smashed the ball across the goal-line and Van Aanholt, trying to cut the ball from reaching Steven Berghuis, and unfortunately the Chelsea man fired the ball into the net.
Vitesse instantly picked themselves up and went for an equaliser, but each time they attacked they left gaps at the back and a horrible defensive mix-up lead to the second goal. Just before half-time, Aron Johansson notched one of the easiest goals of his career.
A long clearance up field from Jan Wuytens sent Johansson jumping for the ball deep into the Vitesse half with defenders Guram Kashia and Jan-Arie van der Heijden. The Vitesse pairing clashed together and the American international was left to calmly chip the ball over Velthuizen to make it 2-0.
After the break, Alkmaar determinedly protected their lead and kept all three points. This now makes Vitesse challenge for their first ever Eredivisie championship a huge challenge to overcome, especially if leaders Ajax can extend their lead against FC Groningen on Thursday evening.
VITESSE: Velthuizen, Leerdam, Kashia, Van den Heijden, Van Aanholt, Pröpper, Vejinovic (Traore 46), Atsu (Qazaishvili 81), Ibarra, Havenaar, Piazón (Labyad 46).
SUBS NOT USED: Room, Mori, Van der Struijk, Djurdjevic.
GOALS: None.
BOOKINGS: Leerdam.
AZ: Esteban, Reijnen, Gouweleeuw, Wuytens, Viergever, Gudelj, Elm, Ortiz, Beerens, Jóhannsson (Avdic 46), Berghuis (Gudmundsson 74).
SUBS NOT USED: Johansson, Gorter, De Winter, Henriksen, Lewis.
GOALS: Van Aanholt 20OG, Jóhannsson 42.
BOOKINGS: Elm, Gudmundsson.
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