Category Archives: EREDIVISIE REPORT

EREDIVISIE: PEC Zwolle 2-0 FC Utrecht

August 8, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

FRIDAY 8TH AUGUST 2014

PEC ZWOLLE 2 – 0 FC UTRECHT

PEC Zwolle were victorious in the first game of the 2014/15 season rather comfortably against a weak FC Utrecht side at the IJsseldelta Stadion this evening, however they left it late to score the goals in a 2-0 win.

As the rain poured down, it was a cautious start, after Jesper Drost headed over in the opening minutes, we had to wait until ten minutes gone to witness our first shot on goal. Mark Diemers, playing in an advance right midfield role for Rob Alflen’s side had a pop from the outside of the area, however, Zwolle goalie Diederik Boer saved easily.

The hosts looking good on the counter attack with the pace of Mustafa Saymak, Jesper Drost and Jody Lukoki sprung open the Utrecht defence when right-back Bram van Polen lobbed a ball forward. Drost rose above Anouar Kali to nod the ball into the path of Saymak, but unfortunately the 21-year-old midfielder latched at his half-volley, and Robbin Ruiter was able to parry as he hurried out to meet the onrushing Saymak.

Zwolle continued to create chances and became the more productive of the two sides especially with the through balls from Saymak, sitting in a role where Kamohelo Mokotjo would have been located, before his transfer to FC Twente this morning. The quick-thinking, creative passing from Saymak made you think Mokotjo was present. In addition, new signing Lukoki was frightening down the right-wing and gave Christian Kum, a summer signing from Heerenveen, a torrid time down Utrecht left side of defence. The fans inside the IJsseldelta Stadion will be pleased the former Ajax man has signed a three-year permanent deal.

Apart from set-pieces, the visitors rarely threatened. Jens Toornstra’s balls from the left with the danger and on 23 minutes, the midfielder whipped one perfectly into the back post for Willem Janssen to nod straight into Boer’s arms.

Zwolle central defender Trent Sainsbury took a knock in a challenge with Leon de Kogel and was subbed off by Maikel van der Werff just before the half-hour mark and Utrecht made a replacement minutes later. Fearful of Lukoki, Utrecht coach Alflen took off Kum and brought on 21-year-old defender Yannick Cortie. Cortie, who is more comfortable in the centre of defence, made a slight improvement but could not keep Lukoki quiet.

Zwolle kept pressing but failed to find a goal before half-time. Chances for Bart van Hintum and Drost went begging and just before the interval, Van Polen went close with a front post flick from Lukoki’s corner. Holding midfielder Ben Rienstra, a new signing from Heracles, got a rare opportunity to get forward and lashed a low shot wide of the goal before referee Eric Braamhaar blew for half-time.

It was a slower tempo in the second half as Utrecht closed down Zwolle’s attacks and took control of the game and started to get into the play, however either goalkeeper’s gloves were hardly tested.

As the hour mark passed, Ron Jans decided to make a change up front with of his new Greek striker, Nikos Ioannidis, on a two-year loan from Olympiakos with a view to a permanent move replaced Stef Nijland as the lone man up front. The 20-year-old got involved straight away, holding the ball up to play Saymak into the area on the right side, but Saymak’s shot was easily parried again by Ruiter.

When it looked like a goal was never going to come it arrived. Another bit of magic from man of the match Lukoki as the winger cross a ball into the area and when Ramon Leeuwin failed to clear it with his header, Jesper Drost was at the back post to finish across goal. This is the 25th consecutive game that Utrecht have failed to keep a clean sheet, not a feat to be proud of.

Lukoki received a standing ovation from the home fans when Soufain Moro, a free transfer this summer from Utrecht, replaced him with seven minutes remaining. The 21-year-old made an impact against his former side with seconds of the game to go.

We have seen it a million times when goalkeepers head up the pitch to try and win the header from a corner in stoppage time to rescue a point. Unfortunately for Ruiter, he was stuck in no man’s land when the corner was quickly cleared and the ball fell to Moro deep in the Zwolle half. After a quick glance at the empty goal, Moro sent a high looping shot and the ball carried in the air perfectly as it flew into the net.

The referee below virtually instantly after the restart and Zwolle pick up an excellent 2-0 win to get their campaign underway. For Utrecht, this resembled more of the same from the Wouters era and unless they get their act together quick, it could be another long season for the Utrechters.

TEAMS

ZWOLLE: Boer, Van Polen, Sainsbury (Van der Werff 27), Broerse, Van Hintum, Saymak, Rienstra, Drost, Lukoki (Moro 83), Nijland (Ioannidis 64), Thomas.

SUBS NOT USED: De Jong, Mahmudov, Dekker, Fernandes Pereira.

GOALS: Drost 75, Moro 90+3.

BOOKINGS: Ioannidis 90.

UTRECHT: Ruiter, Van der Maarel, Leeuwin, Heerings, Kum (Cortie 30), Janssen, Kaloi, Toornstra, Diemers (Sarota 75), De Kogel (Markiet 59), Barazite.

SUBS NOT USED: Verhoeven, Ayoub, Quesada, Antwi.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Janssen 34, Kali 37.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Jody Lukoki (PEC Zwolle)

Click the name above to follow Will on Twitter.

TotalDutchFootball.com WorldFootballWeekly.com

EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE REPORT

Week 32 Eredivisie Weekend Wrap-up: Ajax virtually crowned

April 14, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

League leaders Ajax defeated ADO Den Haag 3-2 to move within one point of clinching the Eredivisie title. Feyenoord are the only side that can mathematically catch the Amsterdammers, however it looks high unlikely as the Rotterdam side will have to hope the defending champions lose their last two games and that they can make up a nine-goal deficit on the way.

Saturday 12th April 2014

Jon Dahl Tomasson’s Roda JC will finish in the bottom three after Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at FC Twente left them eight points adrift of safety with two games to go. The rock-bottom Roda will either be automatically relegated or have to compete for this Eredivisie survival in the relegation play-off. Young Norwegian striker Torgeir Børven scored twice in the opening 26 minutes to virtually cement all three points to Michel Jansen’s side, as former Arsenal youth player Kyle Ebecilio made sure in the second-half.

Seven goals were exchanged in a topsy-turvy contest as SC Cambuur defeated Vitesse 4-3 to ruin Peter Bosz’s men’s chances of an automatic Europa League spot. Full-back Kelvin Leerdam struck first for Vitesse before scoring past his own goalkeeper following Martijn Barto’s equaliser. Although, it was level at half-time as Chelsea loanee Christian Atsu restored parity. Chelsea team-mate Bertrand Traoré put the visitors back in front 11 minutes into the second half but Bartholomew Ogbeche and Barto scored within five minutes of one another to send the Cambuurstadion into raptures.

Go Ahead Eagles need one more point to mathematically secure their Eredivisie status as lost 2-0 to Heerenveen at De Adelaarshorst. Impressive young left-back Joost van Aken nodded Marco van Basten’s side in front in only his second full start for the club. On 76 minutes, Alfred Finnbogason scored Heerenveen’s second after some good work from Bilal Basacikoglu on the right-wing. The goal was the Icelander’s 27th of the Eredivisie campaign.

Sunday 13th April 2014

Frank de Boer’s Ajax defeated Henk Fraser’s ADO Den Haag in a five goal thriller, however, Feyenoord’s 2-0 victory over PSV ensured that Koeman’s men remain six points behind in second place with two rounds of games remaining. If Ajax can clinch at least a point away to Heracles Almelo in a fortnight, they will clinch their fourth successive Eredivisie championship.

Danish midfielder Christian Poulsen gave the league leaders the lead on 35 minutes, although within a minute ADO drew level via Stefano Denswil scoring in his own net to send the sides in at half-time all square.

Second-half goals from Davy Klaassen and Thulani Serero put Ajax 3-1 up with central defender Tom Beugelsdijk scoring a last-minute goal to cut the deficit for ADO. However, it was too late to make an impact when referee Richard Liesveld blew for full-time just moments later

Along with their slim title hopes, Feyenoord maintain their second place with the consolation prize of Champions League qualification well within their grasps. Goals from defensive duo Joris Mathijsen and Daryl Janmaat gave them the win over PSV Eindhoven, who have now suffered three consecutive defeats since Philip Cocu was called out of action after a back operation.

NEC Nijmegen are set to compete relegation play-off in a month’s time although they held AZ Alkmaar to an impressive 1-1 draw that leaves them five points from safety. Dick Advocaat’s side took a second half lead through Nemanja Gudelj’s penalty on 55 minutes but NEC midfielder Kevin Conboy netted three minutes from time to secure a valuable point.

Fellow relegation contenders RKC Waalwijk played out a 1-1 draw with PEC Zwolle and now are three points off safety. RKC striker Daniel De Ridder scored just before the hour mark, but his goal was cancelled out by PEC’s Mateusz Klich just nine minutes later.

FC Utrecht will play Eredivisie football next season after they eased their relegation worries thanks to first-half goals from Jacob Mulenga and Juan Agudelo that earned Jan Wouters’ side a 2-1 victory over Heracles. The visitors saw Mikhail Rosheuvel hit back on 64 minutes and defender Bart Schenkeveld was dismissed with five minutes remaining to halt any ideas of a draw for the Almelo side.

Click the name above to follow Will on Twitter.

TotalDutchFootball.com WorldFootballWeekly.com

EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE REPORT

Week 31 Eredivisie Report: Kostic late winner clinches points

April 11, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Friday 11th April 2014

FC GRONINGEN 2-1 NAC BREDA

Filip Kostic hit an 92nd minute solo effort to give Edwin van der Looi’s FC Groningen their fourth consecutive win in tonight’s 2-1 victory over NAC Breda.

The visitors felt robbed just before half-time when Chelsea loanee Stipe Perica hit an effort towards goal and Hans Hateboer booted the ball off the line. NAC players protested with referee Eric Braamhaar but the official waved away appeals. Video replays showed that decision was very close and may indeed have been the wrong one.

After the goal-less first half, it took ten minutes into the second half for Groningen to take the lead. Braamhaar awarded the hosts a penalty after Gill Swerts fouled Filip Kostic in the box and Nick van der Velden hit home the resulting penalty.

NAC, desperate for points, pressed for the equalising goal and Stipe Perica notched the leveller on 73 minutes. The young Croatian striker beautifully controlled a cross on his chest and smashed the ball into the net, giving Groningen goalkeeper Marco Bizot no chance of stopping.

The visitors attacked for all three points and came close on two occasions through Danny Verbeek and Perica. However, it would be Groningen to claim the maximum points two minutes into stoppage time with Filip Kostic notching his eighth goal of the season. Cutting in from the right-wing, dodging a few challenges before smashing a shot home from outside of the area.

The Eruoborg erupted as the final whistle was blown and Groningen have now virtually confirmed their berth in Europa League playoffs. Meanwhile, NAC sit only four points off the dropzone and must face the visit of RKC Waalwijk in a potential six-pointer.

TEAMS

GRONINGEN: Bizot, Hateboer, Botteghin, Wijnaldum, Burnet, Kieftenbeld, Adorjan (De Leeuw 89), Lindgren (Van Nieff 79), Van der Velden (Kirm 84), Zivkovic, Kostic.

SUBS NOT USED: Van der Lei, Clintje, Saban, Zeefuik.

GOALS: Van der Velden 55, Kostic 90+2.

BOOKINGS: Burnet 60, Kostic 88, De Leeuw 90+2.

NAC: Ten Rouwelaar, Drost, Kwakman, Gilissen (Verbeek 70), Hooi, Matic, Poepon, Perica, Swerts (Van der Weg 74), Buijs, Bodor.

SUBS NOT USED: Babos, Hadouir, Seuntjens, Sarpong, Suk.

GOALS: Perica 73.

BOOKINGS: None.

Click the name above to follow Will on Twitter.

TotalDutchFootball.com WorldFootballWeekly.com

EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE REPORT

Week 31 Eredivisie Weekend Wrap-up: Ajax leave champagne on ice

April 6, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

League leaders Ajax are yet to clinch the Eredivisie title as they were held 1-1 by Vitesse at the Gelredome on Sunday. Elsewhere, Feyenoord maintained second place and Twente in third as PSV were defeated 3-0 by Heerenveen on Saturday night.

Saturday 5th April 2014

PSV, minus head coach Philip Cocu, fell to heavy 3-0 defeat on Saturday evening to Marco van Basten’s Heerenveen. Ernest Faber, deputising for Cocu, has now lead the Eindhoven side to two defeats in two and their aspirations of Champions League football next season have been dashed. Balil Basacikoglu netted on the half-hour mark but second half goals from Rajiv van la Parra and Alfred Finnbogason has now stuck PSV down into fifth place but are five points ahead of Heerenveen who sit a place behind them.

Twente stay in third after winning 2-0 away to NAC Breda thanks to goals from Felipe Gutiérrez and Dušan Tadić. Dropping down to fifteenth in the standings, Breda are now only four points away from the drop zone.

Go Ahead Eagles steered themselves out of relegation trouble with a 2-1 away win at Heracles. Mikhail Rosheuvel, a threat throughout and put the hosts into a first-half lead but the Eagles turned the game on its head after the interval. Midfielders Deniz Türüç and Erik Falkenburg scored the goals to move Go Ahead up to 11th place even though Jarchinio Antonia was dismissed two minutes before time.

NEC Nijmegen stay second bottom and six points from safety after being held 1-1 by manager-less SC Cambuur in a game that saw three sending-offs in four minutes. Geoffrey Castillion gave NEC the lead but Mart Dijkstra equalised just after half-time. NEC captain was sent off six minutes from time and the sides were evened up when Marcel Ritzmaier was given his second yellow minutes later. However, the relegation strugglers were reduced to nine with just two minutes remaining when Rens van Eijden received his second booking.

Sunday 6th April 2014

Frank de Boer’s Ajax came back from a goal down to draw 1-1 at Vitesse, however, being six points clear of Feyenoord in second, remained on track to win their fourth consecutive Eredivisie championship. The Amsterdammers fell mid-way through the first-half when Chelsea loanee Bertrand Traoré netted. Icelandic international forward Kolbeinn Sigthórsson equalized two minutes after the break to earn his side the point.

Sunday also saw the return of Italian striker Graziano Pelle to the Feyenoord side after a four-game suspension and he notched both goals in his side’s 2-0 with over RKC Waalwijk. Ronald Koeman’s men travel to PSV next weekend but look most likely to claim the second Champions League spot.

ADO Den Haag are still undefeated under Henk Fraser after smashing ten-men FC Utrecht by four goals to one. Ronald Alberg and Mike van Duinen sent Utrecht in at half-time two goals down, and Mitchell Schet and Michiel Kramer added to the tally in the second half. Utrecht saw striker Steve de Ridder dismissed after just 24 minutes for two bookings and Jens Toornstra grabbed a last minute consolation goal.

In the final game of the weekend, basement boys Roda JC held AZ Alkmaar to a 2-2 draw that yet another red card. Berry Powel put Jon Dahl Tomasson’s men ahead but AZ midfielder Markus Henriksen equalised before half-time. American striker Aron Johansson notched before the hour mark to give the visitors the lead but Guus Hupperts snatched the leveller twenty minutes from time. With just below ten minutes remaining, Guy Ramos saw red for his second bookable offence. Roda look doomed and are eight points away from safety, results next weekend could see them confirmed to the relegation play off places.

Click the name above to follow Will on Twitter.

TotalDutchFootball.com WorldFootballWeekly.com

EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE REPORT

Week 31 Eredivisie Report: Botteghin header gives Groningen win over Zwolle

April 4, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Friday 4th April 2014

PEC ZWOLLE 0-1 FC GRONINGEN

FC Groningen narrowly defeated PEC Zwolle 1-0 on Friday night to boost their hopes of clinching an Eredivisie Europa League Play-off berth, and now hold a four-point cushion with just three league games remaining.

Brazilian defender Eric Botteghin netted the game’s only goal 20 minutes against his old club from time to settle matters in the visitors’ favour at IJsseldelta Stadion. After a free-kick was failed to be cleared by Zwolle, the ball fell to Maikel Kieftenbeld on the right-wing and the midfielder’s swung a deep ball into the back post. Botteghin emerged from a pack of players unmarked to head home at the back post on 70 minutes but did not celebrate out of respect for the club where his Dutch football career began in 2007.

It was a poor game with few chances but Groningen’s Marco Bizot was the busier of the two goalkeepers. After a dull first half, Zwolle striker Fred Benson saw his near-post effort beaten away by the visiting keeper. Bizot was called upon again in the closing stages, denying Bart van Hintum at the front post as Erwin van de Looi’s men held out to put secure their third successive league win.

Groningen remain in eighth but are now four points clear from Zwolle in ninth to hold the European play-off place but Zwolle seem to already have a European place next season when Ajax inevitably win the league.

TEAMS

ZWOLLE: Boer, Van Polen, Lachman, Van der Werff, Van Hintum, Drost, Gravenbeek, Klich (Nijland 66), Narsingh (Fernandez 46), Benson, Thomas (Broerse 83).

SUBS NOT USED: Ter Wielen, Karaguonis, Hiwat.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Lachman 37, Van Polen 69.

GRONINGEN: Bizot, Kappelhof, Botteghin, Burnet, Hateboer, Kieftenbeld, Chery, Lindgren, Adorjan (Van Nieff 84), Kostic (Kirm 90+3), Zivkovic.

SUBS NOT USED: Van der Lei, Cljintje, Hiariej, Hagenauw, Zeefuik.

GOALS: Botteghin 70.

BOOKINGS: Kappelhof 74.

Click the name above to follow Will on Twitter.

TotalDutchFootball.com WorldFootballWeekly.com

EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE REPORT

Midweek Eredivisie Report: Ajax & Feyenoord pull away

April 3, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

On a night which saw four red cards in the Eredivisie, Ajax take a further step to clinching their fourth championship in a row as Feyenoord pull away from the chasing pack in second.

Wednesday 2nd April

GO AHEAD EAGLES 2-1 NAC BREDA

Go Ahead Eagles pulled four points clear from the drop zone with a vital 2-1 home win over NAC Breda.

Adelaarshorst was sent into raptures on 26 minutes when Jarchinio Antonia displayed his skills with a wonderful solo goal which ended up with the winger delightfully chipping the ball over NAC goalkeeper Jelle ten Rouwelaar to put the hosts in front.

Jordy Buijs got the equaliser with a smart free-kick from the edge of the box on 38 minutes. A low grass-cutting effort that sneaked under the wall and left Go Ahead’s Danish keeper Stephan Andersen totally bemused.

However, the hosts grabbed the late winner through an own goal from Henrico Drost after the NAC defender stuck a leg out trying to stop a Sjoerd Overgoor effort but diverted the ball past Ten Rouwelaar to give Go Ahead the win.

TEAMS

GO AHEAD: Andersen, Amevor (Haps 86), Vriends, Van den Linden, Schenk, Overgoor, Falkenburg, Rijsdijk (Lambooij 88), Antonia, Kolder, Houtkoop (Godee 66).

SUBS NOT USED: Ten Den, Cummins, Azevedo, Pot.

GOALS: Antonia 26, Drost 84.

BOOKINGS: Amevor 85.

NAC: Ten Rouwelaar, De Roover, Drost (Hadouir 88), Kwakman, Swerts, Buijs, Matic, Bodor, Hooi, Poepon (Perica 78), Verbeek (Sarpong 46).

SUBS NOT USED: Babos, Van der Weg, Suk, Seuntjens.

GOALS: Buijs 38.

BOOKINGS: Swerts 21, Buijs 33, Ten Rouwelaar 85.

HERACLES 1-2 FEYENOORD

Feyenoord defeated Heracles Almelo 2-1 to make the gap between second and third placed FC Twente to four points which makes Ronald Koeman’s side favourites to clinch the Champions League qualification spot.

The hosts took control early in the game as the tricky Iliass Bel Hassani scored the opening goal after 14 minutes. The 21-year-old, cut inside from the left-wing and avoided the challenges of Jordy Clasie and Daryl Janmaat to drive a low left-footed shot to beat Erwin Mulder in goal.

Feyenoord were 2-1 up before half-time with young striker Mitchell te Verde heading home a Clasie corner on the half-hour mark. Four minutes before the break, Ronald Koeman’s side took the lead and what turned out to be the winning goal by Tony Vilhena.

The Rotterdam side look to nail the Champions League place down but face tough tests against PSV and AZ Alkmaar before the end of the season.

TEAMS

HERACLES: Pasveer, Koenders, Schenkeveld, Veldmate, Davidson, Bruns (Cziommer 62), Rienstra, Bel Hassani, Tannane (Rosheuvel 25), Uth (Amoah 46), Linssen.

SUBS NOT USED: Telgenkamp, Belterman, Streutker, Quansah.

GOALS: Bel Hassani 14.

BOOKINGS: Cziommer 72, Amoah 84.

SENT OFF: Cziommer 87.

FEYENOORD: Mulder, Janmaat, De Vrij, Martins Indi (Van Beek 90+1), Kongolo, Clasie, Immers, Vilhena (Vormer 78), Schaken, Te Vrede, Boëtius (Verhoek 57).

SUBS NOT USED: Lamprou, Armenteros, Bakkal, Nelom.

GOALS: Te Vrede 30, Vilhena 41.

BOOKINGS: Verhoek 90+4.

RKC WAALWIJK 0-2 AJAX

Ajax could win the Eredivisie title at the weekend against Vitesse if Feyenoord fail to beat Ajax’ opponents tonight RKC Waalwijk. Frank de Boer’s men controlled RKC to take a 2-0 victory back to Amsterdam.

Ajax were not messing about in Waalwijk and went a goal up after just 14 minutes. Central defender Joël Veltman rising above everyone at the back post to head home from a Lasse Schöne corner.

It was 2-0 before the half-hour with Davy Klaassen finishing the move that Kolbeinn Sigthórsson orchestrated.

RKC remain up to their knees in relegation trouble four points adrift from safety with just four games left to play.

TEAMS

RKC: Van Dijk, Lamey (Apau 26), Van Hoevelen, Prince, Amieux, Sno, Jungschläger, Duits, Castelen (Anderson 73), Beauguel, De Ridder (Joachim 57).

SUBS NOT USED: Šeda, Van Mosselveld, Braber, Schet.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: None.

AJAX: Cillessen, Van Rhijn, Veltman, Denswil, Blind, Klaassen (Serero 82), Poulsen, Duarte, De Sa (Kishna68), Sigthórsson, Schöne.

SUBS NOT USED: Vermeer, Van der Hoorn, Boilesen, Riedewald, Bojan.

GOALS: Veltman 14, Klaassen 28.

BOOKINGS: None.

FC TWENTE 1-1 ADO DEN HAAG

Henk Fraser managed ADO to another fantastic result a 1-1 draw away to FC Twente, who ended the game with just nine men. However, ADO have now gone eight games unbeaten for the first time since 1972.

The hosts took the lead in the ninth minute through Felipe Gutiérrez when he coolly finished a move created by Quincy Promes.

The three points looked to be slipping away out of Twente’s grasp just after the hour mark when Rasmus Bengtsson was dismissed for a professional foul when he bundled over ADO striker Michiel Kramer, who was racing through on goal. The resulting free-kick on the edge of the area by Danny Holla was curled perfectly low around the wall but was tipped onto the post by Twente keeper Nick Marsman.

Luc Castaignos thought he had sealed the win for his side on 75 minutes but had his effort correctly ruled out for offside.

With just nine minutes to go, Michiel Kramer nodded home the all important equaliser from a wonderful cross from right-back Dion Malone.

Twente saw red again before full-time with Castaignos given his marching orders for a harsh challenge on Malone.

The hopes of Twente’s Champions League qualification take a blow but the point lifts the Enschede side above Vitesse, whose links with Premier League giants Chelsea were revealed to be under investigation by the KNVB on Wednesday.

TEAMS

TWENTE: Marsman, Martina, Bengtsson, Bjelland, Koppers, Ebecilio (Breukers 92), Brama (Roseler 85), Gutiérrez, Promes (Mokhtar 81), Castaignos, Tadić.

SUBS NOT USED: Stevens, Schilder, Corona, Borven.

GOALS: Gutiérrez 9.

BOOKINGS: None.

SENT OFF: Bengtsson 64, Castaignos 88.

ADO: Coutinho, Zuiverloon (Van Haaren 59), Wormgoor, Bakker, Meijers, Malone, Holla, Alberg, Schet (Wildschut 81), Kramer, Cabral (Gouriye 78).

SUBS NOT USED: Zwinkles, Gehrt, Buwalda, Kanon.

GOALS: Kramer 82.

BOOKINGS: None.

FC UTRECHT 1-0 SC CAMBUUR

Jacob Mulenga, making his first start since November last year, scored the only goal of the game as FC Utrecht eased their relegation worries at home to mid-table SC Cambuur.

Jan Wouters will be a relieved man as he witnessed his side clinch their first win in five games to steer clear of relegation worries.

Jacob Mulenga poked home the winner on 56 minutes after Steve de Ridder had fed the Zambian striker through on goal. The visitor’s hopes of a comeback were dented midway through the second half when Lucas Bijker was shown red for a rash challenge on Adam Sarota.

Cambuur’s great season could end on a sour note after Tuesday saw manager Dwight Lodeweges announce he would be leaving for Heerenveen at the end of season. The Leeuwarden’s sides fans protested on Wednesday morning which saw Lodeweges resigned later that day. They sit only three points off the Europa League playoff places but with caretaker manager Henk de Jong leading them out for the last four games, this may be out of their reach.

TEAMS

UTRECHT: Ruiter, Van der Maarel, Delpierre, Heerings, Bulthuis, Sarota, Mårtensson, Toornstra, Oar, Mulenga, De Ridder.

SUBS NOT USED: Verhoeven, Van der Gun, Markiet, Diemers, Agudelo, Dorda, Quesada.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: None.

CAMBUUR: Nienhuis, Droste, Leeuwin, Van der Laan, Bijker, Bakker, El Makrini, Ritzmaier, Lukoki, Barto, Manu.

SUBS NOT USED: Zeinstra, Periera, Van Moorsel, Hemmen, Dijkstra, Ogbeche, Schepers.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: None.

Click the name above to follow Will on Twitter.

TotalDutchFootball.com WorldFootballWeekly.com

EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE REPORT

Week 30 Eredivisie Report: Ajax close in on another championship

March 30, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Once again it seems Ajax’s will be lifting the Eredivisie title soon after handing FC Twente a 3-0 defeat today to put Frank de Boer’s side eight points clear at the top with just three games to go.

Sunday 30th March 2014

FEYENOORD 5-0 GO AHEAD EAGLES

Even without top scorer Graziano Pellè, Feyenoord managed to hit five past Go Ahead Eagles to move themselves into pole position for the Champions League qualification slot.

Lex Immers got the scoring underway with an excellent powerful low drive from his right foot that beat Go Ahead keeper Stephan Andersen at his near post. The 45,000 inside De Kuip were as loud as usual and push their team on.

However, the visitors should have been level on 20 minutes when a Jop van der Linden free-kick had the beating of Feyenoord stopper Erwin Mulder, but unfortunately for the Eagles defender the post kept the ball out.

Feyenoord search for the second goal but they had to wait until 49 minutes. Ruben Schaken crossed in from the right wing and Tony Vilhena leaped above everyone to head past Andersen to double the lead.

It was three in the 64 minute with Jean-Paul Boëtius scoring his ninth of the season. Attacking on the right-wing again, Schaken and Immers linked up well for the latter to put the ball on the plate for Boëtius to tap home. De Kuip erupted knowing that their side had cemented the victory.

Ronald Koeman’s side were not finished and Daryl Janmaat played in young striker Mitchell Te Verde on 77 minutes for the fourth, and finally Ruud Vormer split the Eagles defence with a ball through to Miquel Nelom two minutes from time and the substitute blasted the ball past Andersen to make it five.

This was the biggest win of the season for the Rotterdam side who are now in pole position for Champions League football next term, with a game in hand on the chasing pack. That game in hand will take place in Almelo on Wednesday against Heracles.

Go Ahead look in trouble and are only one point off the drop zone, they will look to Wednesday’s home game against NAC Breda to give them some breathing space off the others in the relegation fight.

TEAMS

FEYENOORD: Mulder, Janmaat, De Vrij, Martins Indi, Kongolo, Clasie, Immers, Vilhena, Boëtius, Te Vrede, Schaken.

SUBS NOT USED: Lamprou, Van Beek, Vormer, Nelom, Verhoek, Armenteros, Bakkal.

GOALS: Immers 13, Vilhena 49, Boëtius 64, Te Verde 77, Nelom 89.

BOOKINGS: Kongolo 51.

GO AHEAD: Andersen, Amevor, Vriends, Van der Linden, Schenk, Overgoor, Türüç, Rijsdijk, Antonia, Houtkoop, Falkenburg.

SUBS NOT USED: Ter Mate, Ten Den, Kolder, Azevedo, Haps, Pot, Lambooij.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Türüç 21.

AJAX 3-0 FC TWENTE

Frank de Boer’s Ajax close in on their fourth successive Eredivisie title and now sit eight points clear of nearest rivals Feyenoord.

Twente should have taken the lead after a quarter of an hour after some great work from Felipe Gutiérrez. The Chilean playmaker surged down the right wing and slipped past Stefano Denswil with ease, and as Luc Castaignos was waiting at the back post for a tap in, the ball to him was not good enough and played in behind him. The majority of the 51,117 inside the Amsterdam Arena breathed a sigh of relief.

After Andreas Bjelland fouled Thulani Serero just before the half hour mark, referee Pieter Vink awarded Ajax a free-kick on the right wing which lead to opening goal. Dane Lasse Schöne whipped in the ball to an unmarked Stefano Denswil to nod the ball towards the goal out of Nick Marsman’s reach.

Twente pressed for the equaliser and look likely to score every time they went forward and they should have been level before the interval. The always lively Quincy Promes spotted a lovely run into the area by Youness Mokhtar. When the midfielder received the ball, the angle was too tight and his effort bounced off the foot of the post. Minutes later, Castaignos overpowered Denswil and was one-on-one with Jasper Cillessen, but the striker blared his shot off the crossbar from close range.

As the second half began, Twente pressed forward looking for that equalising goal but it was Ajax that found the net before the hour mark. Bojan Krkic, on loan from Barcelona, has had a poor season but he had a cracking second half for the Amsterdammers and spied a great run down the right from Ajax full-back Ricardo van Rhijn. The defender collected the ball and laid in Lasse Schöne in the middle to tap home with ease.

Seven minutes later, the Spaniard Bojan Krkic clinched the win for Ajax with an excellent goal. With Twente on the back foot, trying to find that defensive cover whilst still attacking got it all wrong as the ball came out to Davy Klaassen on the right wing. Klaassen played the ball into Bojan just outside the area, and rather than look for another pass, the young striker blasted a shot past Marsman to make it three.

All in all a great day for Ajax and this win felt like a win from the champions, and after the last few disappointing performances, Frank de Boer will sleep much better this evening. The Amsterdammers are now eight points ahead and have a game in hand on most of their rivals with just four rounds to go. That game in hand will be played on Wednesday night away to relegation contenders RKC Waalwijk.

TEAMS

AJAX: Cillessen, Van Rhijn, Denswil, Veltman, Boilesen (Poulsen 70), Blind, Klaassen, Serero, Bojan (Duarte 79), Schöne, Kishna (Sigthórsson 62).

SUBS NOT USED: Vermeer, Van der Hoorn, De Sa, Riedewald.

GOALS: Denswil 29, Schöne 58, Bojan 65.

BOOKINGS: None.

TWENTE: Marsman, Bjelland, Schilder, Bengtsson, Martina, Ebecilio, Tadić, Gutiérrez (Brama 71), Mokhtar, Promes (Corona 81), Castaignos (Børven 70).

SUBS NOT USED: Stevens, Breukers, Eghan, Röseler.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: None.

SC CAMBUUR 0-0 AZ ALKMAAR

The resilient Cambuur kept the free-scoring AZ Alkmaar at bay to share the points in a goal-less draw.

AZ missed the chance to leapfrog Heerenveen into sixth but it was the home side should have taken the lead after just five minutes when Elvis Manu hit the side netting with a glorious opportunity.

Dick Advocaat’s side were unlucky not to leave Leeuwarden with the win after Denni Avdic, replacing Aron Johansson in the starting line-up, had a goal ruled out by match official Ed Janssen with twenty minutes to go. AZ were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box and Donny Gorter lashed a shot into the wall and the ball fell perfectly to Victor Elm who hit a half-volley at goal.

Cambuur goalkeeper Leonard Nienhuis stopped the effort but failed to smother the ball. Central defender Nick Viergever attacked the ball which ricocheted off Nienhuis into the path of Avdic who tapped home the rebound. The referee deemed that Avdic was offside when Elm had took his shot and much to AZ’s chagrin, video replays showed that may have been the case, but it was certainly a close decision. AZ coach Advocaat when ballistic on the touchline protesting furiously with the fourth official.

The sharing of points saw Cambuur stay in 11th well clear of the relegation places and AZ stay in seventh inside the Europa League playoffs.

TEAMS

CAMBUUR: Nienhuis, Droeste, Van der Laan, Bijker, Leeuwin, Van Moorsel (Ogbeche 62), El Makrini, Ritzmaier, Barto (Hemmen 62), Lukoki (Bakker 79), Manu.

SUBS NOT USED: Zeinstra, Pereira, Dijkstra, Schepers.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Lukoki 76.

AZ: Esteban, Johansson, Viergever, Poulsen, Gouweleeuw, Gudelj, Elm, Ortiz, Berghuis (Gorter 53), Beerens (Gudmundsson 26), Avdic (Jóhannsson 83).

SUBS NOT USED: De Winter, Reijnen, Henriksen, Wuytens.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Johansson 32, Gouweleeuw 51.

RODA JC 0-1 RKC WAALWIJK

Jon Dahl Tomasson’s Roda are staring the Eerste Divisie straight in the face now falling to 1-0 defeat to fellow relegation contenders RKC Waalwijk.

The only goal of the game came midway through the first half with Romeo Castelen scoring his sixth of the campaign. After receiving the ball inside the area, Castelen faked a shot that made Ard van Peppen slip and turn his back on the ball and the striker drove the ball home past Filip Kurto.

Tomasson’s Roda had their chances to score the equaliser but Berry Powel smashed a great effort on the post and RKC stand-in keeper Arjen van Dijk was in good form saving from Gus Ramos and Guus Hupperts.

As time ticked on, the Roda crowd got restless and just past the hour mark the hosts should have been awarded a penalty by referee Bjorn Kuipers. A corner was whipped in and Prince-Désir Gouano literally rugby tackled striker Krisztián Nemeth down to the ground. The referee and his assistants missed the incident and the French defender got away with it.

RKC keeper Van Dijk was worked for the remainder of the game but Roda could not get the ball past him and it was a poor result for the home side. Roda now sit sixth points adrift from safety and their best chance of survival will surely be trying to move out of the bottom position and into the relegation playoffs.

TEAMS

RODA: Kurto, Ramos, Van Peppen, Letschert, Dijkhuizen (Paulissen 81), Fledderus, Donald (Németh 63), Kali, Sutchuin (Bonevacia 74), Hupperts, Powel.

SUBS NOT USED: Prus, Luijckx, Monteyne, Höcher.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Donald 57, Dijkhuizen 67.

RKC: Van Dijk, Van Hoevelen, Amieux, Gouano, Apau, Jungschläger, Braber (De Ridder 46), Anderson, Sno, Castelen (Van Mosselveld 85), Beauguel (Joachim 70).

SUBS NOT USED: Šeda, Ivens, Schet, Lamey.

GOALS: Castelen 22.

BOOKINGS: Beauguel 27, Apau 45.

ADO DEN HAAG 1-1 PEC ZWOLLE

In the final game of the weekend, ADO Den Haag and PEC Zwolle played a draw which saw ADO remain undefeated under Henk Fraser but by no means out of relegation trouble yet.

Zwolle arrived in Den Haag buzzing with confidence after reaching the KNVB Beker final in midweek, took the lead after twenty minutes through defender Maikel van der Werff. Stef Nijland whipped in a corner towards the back post and ADO goalkeeper Gino Coutinho misjudged it, flapped, collide into team-mate Gianni Zuiverloon and Van der Werff headed the ball into the empty goal.

The hosts should been level before half-time if it were not for the heroics of Zwolle keeper Kevin Begois. Tom Beugelsdijk met Jerson Cabral’s cross with his head on 40 minutes but the Belgian goalkeeper, diving the opposite way, stuck a leg out to clear it off the line.

Fraser’s side did tie the scoring with a Ronald Alberg wonder goal two minutes later. The midfielder lashed a half-volley inside Begois right-hand post from around 30 yards.

Zwolle should have gained all three points in the dying moments of the game when substitute Fred Benson was given an golden opportunity after Kamehelo Mokotjo had played the striker through on goal. With only the Coutinho to beat, the striker side footed his effort wide of the post much to the delight of the home crowd.

ADO are still just three points off the drop zone and with just four games to go, they will need some more points to feel safe. PEC Zwolle stay in ninth place and with their KNVB Beker final appearance, European football beckons next season if or when Ajax finally clinch the championship.

TEAMS

ADO: Coutinho, Wormgoor, Beugelsdijk, Meijers, Zuiverloon, Holla, Gehrt (Kramer 74), Bakker, Van Duinen, Schet (Wildschut 30), Alberg.

SUBS NOT USED: Zwinkels, Kanon, Buwalda, Van Haaren, Cabral.

GOALS: Alberg 42.

BOOKINGS: Beugelsdijk 56, Van Duinen 74, Wormgoor 76.

ZWOLLE: Begois (Ter Wielen 46), Lachman, Van der Werff, Van Hintum, Gravenbeek, Nijland (Benson 84), Drost, Mokotjo, Saymak, Narsingh (Karagounis 57), Fernandez.

SUBS NOT USED: Pereria, Klich, Hiwat, Mahmudov.

GOALS: Van der Werff 20.

BOOKINGS: Saymak 47, Nijland 50.

Click the name above to follow Will on Twitter.

TotalDutchFootball.com WorldFootballWeekly.com

EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE REPORT

Week 30 Eredivisie Report: PSV slip as Heerenveen hold Vitesse

March 29, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Saturday 29th March 2014

VITESSE 2-2 HEERENVEEN

Vitesse missed the chance to jump in to second place as Peter Bosz’s men and Marco van Basten’s Heerenveen shared the points in a hard-fought 2-2 draw in a great game in the GelreDome.

Van Basten gave 18-year-old winger Daley Sinkgraven his first start in the same week the players signed new contract with the club replacing Rajiv Van la Parra who was left out of the matchday squad for disciplinary reasons.

The first real chance of the game came when Zakaria Labyad forced a save from Kristoffer Nordfeldt on 15 minutes, and Valeri Qazaishvili lashed the rebound towards goal but his effort was blasted just wide of the post.

On the half hour, Mike Havenaar notched his tenth of the season after Ronald Achenteh found him free at the back post, and the Japanese striker arrived to tap home.

Heerenveen nearly had the perfect response a minute later when Bilal Basacikoglu surged forward down the left and swung a ball into the area for Hakim Ziyech but Piet Velthuizen pulled off a great stop to preserve his side’s lead. Opposition goalkeeper Nordfeldt was called into action moments later at the other end when Chelsea’s on-loan full-back Patrick van Aanholt smashed a low left foot drive but the big Swede got down to protect his net.

The visitors got the levelling goal through the Icelandic hitman Alfred Finnbogason with a superb goal. Joey van den Berg played the ball into the striker’s feet on the edge of the area, the Eredivisie top scorer strongly held off the challenge of Jan-Arie Van der Heijden, kept his composure and fire into the goal.

After the half-time team talks, Bertrand Traoré replaced Havenaar after the Vitesse goalscorer had fallen awkwardly on his ankle midway through in the first half.

The visitors grabbed the lead just before the hour mark after some great work from young substitute Joost van Aken, after being one the pitch for less than two minutes. The left-back surged down the wing and beat Achenteh to cross in for Bilal Basacikoglu to rise above Van Aanholt to head past Velthuizen.

Another substitute brought the hosts back level, Chelsea midfielder Bertrand Traoré with a great finish in the 67th minute after being put through on goal by fellow Chelsea team-mate Christian Atsu.

Both sides pressed for the winning goal but both keepers saved their team. At first, Finnbogason looked certain to score ten minute from time but Velthuizen got in front of the striker’s close range effort. Meanwhile, with just a minute remaining, Nordfeldt had to tip over a Traore free-kick.

The draw helped neither team although Vitesse move up into second at the expense of PSV as Heerenveen stay in sixth.

TEAMS

VITESSE: Velthuizen, Achenteh (Vejinovic 82), Mori, Van der Heijden, Van Aanholt, Pröpper, Qazaishvili, Labyad, Atsu (Djurdjevic 73), Havenaar (Traoré 46), Piazón.

SUBS NOT USED: Room, Bosz, Metalsi.

GOALS: Havenaar 31, Traoré 67.

BOOKINGS: Qazaishvili 61, Mori 84.

HEERENVEEN: Nordfeldt, Marzo, Kum, Kruiswijk, Raitala (Van Aken 56), Van Anholt, Van den Berg, Sinkgraven, Ziyech (Slagveer 90+1), Finnbogason, Basacikoglu.

SUBS NOT USED: Vandenbussche, Otigba, De Kamps, Fazli.

GOALS: Finnbogason 39, Basacikoglu 58.

BOOKINGS: Raitala 44, Van Anholt 72, Ziyech 86, Van Aken 88.

NEC 1-2 HERACLES

The already relegation threatened NEC Nijmegen suffered a last minute defeat to ten man Heracles to stay four points adrift of safety but have played more games than all the other clubs in the relegation battle.

The hosts opened the scoring on 20 minutes as Englishman Michael Higdon notched goal number fourteen of the Eredivisie campaign. Higdon skipped past Heracles keeper Remko Pasveer to finish into the vacant goal.

The equaliser did not arrive until the 80th minute with Australian Jason Davidson making the NEC Nijmegen pay for not clearing a cross. A few minutes later, the visitors were down to ten men as Mike te Wierek was shown his second yellow card by referee Kevin Blom for a bad tackle on Søren Rieks.

With the game heading to a draw, Heracles substitutes Matthew Amoah and Iliass Ben Hassini combining to steal the points. Ben Hassini whipped in a ball to the back post and Amoah was on hand to nod the ball past Dennis Gentenaar in goal.

Heracles have climbed up to tenth in the league standings with the positive results, however for NEC, it’s looking highly likely that the Nijmegen side will be at least participating in the relegation playoffs come the end of April.

TEAMS

NEC: Gentenaar, Vermijl, Nielsen, Conboy, Leiwakabessy, Jahanbakhsh (Castillion 88), Rieks, Štefánik, Koolwijk (Mulder 53), Jantscher (Hemlein 82), Higdon.

SUBS NOT USED: Johnsson, Stutter, Disveld.

GOALS: Higdon 20.

BOOKINGS: Rieks 90.

HERACLES: Pasveer, Te Wierik, Rienstra, Schenkeveld, Davidson, Tannane, Quansah, Bruns (Veldmate 74), Rosheuvel (Bel Hassani 62), Uth (Amoah 58), Linssen.

SUBS NOT USED: Telgenkamp, Koenders, Cziommer, Belterman.

GOALS: Davidson 79, Amoah 90+5.

BOOKINGS: Linssen 62, Te Wierik 74, Quansah 85.

SENT OFF: Te Wierek 83.

PSV 2-3 FC GRONINGEN

After an eight-game winning streak, PSV Eindhoven were defeated for only second time this season at the Philips Stadion, 3-2 by FC Groningen.

With Philip Cocu sidelined for the rest of the season after an operation midweek to remove a benign tumour from his back, his assistant Ernest Faber led the PSV team out for the first time. The team were boosted with Georginio Wijnaldum’s return as he had been out of action since September with a back injury.

PSV exploded out of the blocks and made Groningen pay for a defensive error within the first two minutes. After Maikel Kieftenbeld had gave the ball away, goalkeeper Marco Bizot rushed out to punch the ball away from Jürgen Locadia’s path, the quick thinking masked-man Memphis Depay acrobatically chipped the ball towards goal from outside of the box to make it 1-0.

Two quick fire goals not only got Groningen back in the game but saw them take the lead.After a good run from Filip Kostic on 18 minutes, the Serbian rolled the back to Richairo Zivkovic inside the six-yard box for the youngster to tap home his eighth goal of the season.

In the 20th minute, Filip Kostic robbed PSV defender Karim Rekik of the ball in his own area and fired past Jeroen Zoet to make it 2-1 with two goals in two minutes. The Philips Stadion and the PSV players were shell shocked.

The scores were level at the half-time break as PSV were handed a lifeline on 37 minutes. Bryan Ruiz earned his side a penalty and Jürgen Locadia sent the spot-kick low to Bizot’s right and into the bottom corner to make it 2-2.

However, PSV did not go onto to win the game even though they boasted much the possession and only 64 minutes, Tjaronn Chery hit a free-kick that missed everyone and nestled into Zoet’s goal to give his side the three points.

As Edwin van de Looi and Groningen celebrated, PSV sulked as this was a bitter blow to their chances of Champions League qualification for next season.

TEAMS

PSV: Zoet, Arias, Willems, Bruma, Rekik, Schaars (Georginio Wijnaldum 46), Park, Hiljemark (Maher 87), Ruiz (Narsingh 77), Depay, Locadia.

SUBS NOT USED: Tyton, Brenet, Zanka Jørgensen, Bakkali.

GOALS: Depay 3, Locadia 37.

BOOKINGS: Bruma 21, Rekik 46.

GRONINGEN: Bizot, Hateboer, Botteghin, Kappelhof, Burnet (Giliano Wijnaldum 30), Lindgren, Kieftenbeld, Chery, Van der Velden, Zivkovic, Kostic (Kirm 90+2).

SUBS NOT USED: Van der Lei, Adorjan, Van Nieff, Clintje, Zeefuik.

GOALS: Zivkovic 18, Kostic 20, Chery 64.

BOOKINGS: Burnet 10, Botteghin 36, Wijnaldum 66.

Click the name above to follow Will on Twitter.

TotalDutchFootball.com WorldFootballWeekly.com

EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE REPORT

Week 30 Eredivisie Report: Late drama as NAC and Utrecht share points

March 28, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Friday 28th March 2014

NAC BREDA 2-2 FC UTRECHT

Three goals in the final four minutes finally brought some excitement to the game in Breda tonight as NAC and Utrecht drew 2-2.

The game got underway eight minutes late after grounds men had to come to the rescue when large craters in the pitch had been created by pre-match fireworks. Once the fun and games was over, the action got going at a slow pace. After a goal-less first half we thought we had a goal on 55 minutes but Rydell Poepon was a mile offside when he tapped home from Robbin Ruiter’s save.

The opening goal came just before the hour mark as Danny Verbeek was found by a Kees Kwakman pass and the striker had plenty of time in the area to lash home a left footed shot that gave Ruiter no chance of stopping.

Jan Wouters’ side desperate for points pressed for a goal and on 86 minutes they got their wish against the run of play. Australian midfielder Tommy Oar floated in a free kick allowing defender Dave Bulthuis to cleverly nod home past Jelle ten Rouwelaar.

Utrecht possibly settled and thought they had clinched an away point but Rydell Poepon had other ideas. A minute before time, the striker rose above Bulthuis to head home Elson Hooi’s cross from the right-wing. The effort should have been stopped by Ruiter as he palmed it into the net.

When NAC and the home fans obviously thought they had snatched all three points but Cedric van der Gun stole the point for Utrecht. Mark van der Maarel launched a long ball into the box and after Steve de Ridder failed to connect with an header, the ball fell perfectly for Van der Gun to smash home from close range.

An unbelievable end to the game that keeps Utrecht in 14th on 32 points, five clear of the drop zone while NAC Breda stay in 11th on 34 points.

TEAMS

NAC: Ten Rouwelaar, De Roover, Drost, Kwakman, Swerts, Buijs, Bodor, Matic, Hooi, Poepon, Verbeek (Perica 90).

SUBS NOT USED: Babos, Sarpong, Suk, El Allouchi, Seuntjens, Van der Weg.

GOALS: Verbeek 58, Poepon 88.

BOOKINGS: None.

UTRECHT: Ruiter, Van der Maarel, Delpierre, Heerings, Bulthuis, Van der Gun, Mårtensson, Toornstra (Sarota 82), Oar, De Ridder, Agudelo (Mulenga 66).

SUBS NOT USED: Verhoeven, Diemers, Dorda, Quesada, Markiet.

GOALS: Bulthuis 86, Van der Gun 90.

BOOKINGS: None.

Click the name above to follow Will on Twitter.

TotalDutchFootball.com WorldFootballWeekly.com

EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE REPORT

Week 29 Eredivisie Report: AZ edge Zwolle

March 23, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Sunday 23rd March 2014

AZ ALKMAAR 2-1 PEC ZWOLLE

After their heroics in Europe this past Thursday, AZ returned to home soil to defeat PEC Zwolle but they made hard work of it.

Anyone thinking that Thursday’s trip to Russia to face Anzhi may have exhausted Dick Advocaat’s side could not have been more wrong after watching the opening 15 minutes. Zwolle were shell-shocked when AZ exploded out of the blocks and went two goals ahead by the quarter of an hour mark.

The first goal was a bit of fluke as Steven Berghuis shrugged off the challenge of Denis Mahmudov to cross a ball from the right wing. The ball looked destined to meet the head of Aron Jóhannsson in the area, but the American striker misjudged his jump and missed the ball. Goalkeeper Diederik Boer was fooled by the miss as the ball crept into the corner of the goal, Berghuis celebrated as the Zwolle ‘keeper look embarrassed.

The lead was doubled eight minutes later, after Simon Poulsen nodded a ball into area, Jóhannsson blasted a shot towards goal but Zwolle defence blocked the effort. Unable to clear, the Zwolle defence had left Nemanja Gudelj unmarked to finish with ease. Ron Jans’ side were crumbling and it looked all over after just 15 minutes.

AZ pressed for more goals but as the half went on they did start to tire and Zwolle got back into the game, against the run of play. Just before the break, Jesper Drost’s cross from the left met the head of Mustafa Saymak, unmarked in the area, and goalkeeper Esteban was wrong footed and was unable to stop the header.

As the game progressed, AZ attacked instead of sitting back and won a penalty after Jóhannsson was fouled in the area by Joost Broerse. The American saw his effort saved by Boer, which was the Zwolle keeper’s third penalty stop this season.

AZ held on as Zwolle pushed for a point, which seems them retain seventh place in the league, and Zwolle are right behind them in eighth.

TEAMS

AZ: Esteban, Johansson, Gouweleeuw, Viergever, Poulsen, Gudelj (Henriksen 76), Ortiz, Elm, Berghuis (Gudmundsson 73), Jóhannsson (Avdic 73), Beerens.

SUBS NOT USED: De Winter, Reijnen, Hoedt, Gorter.

GOALS: Beghuis 6, Gudelj 14.

BOOKINGS: None.

ZWOLLE: Boer, Van Polen, Lachman (Broerse 46), Van der Werff, Van Hintum, Mokotjo (Klich 46), Drost, Saymak, Mahmudov (Hiwat 73), Benson, Karagounis.

SUBS NOT USED: Begois, Pereira, Gravenbeek, Nijland.

GOALS: Saymak 43.

BOOKINGS: Van Polen 33, Broerse 74.

Click the name above to follow Will on Twitter.

TotalDutchFootball.com WorldFootballWeekly.com

EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE REPORT

Week 29 Eredivisie Report: PSV’s winning streak continues

March 23, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Vitesse suffered a shock defeat away at FC Groningen, NEC Nijmegen performed a two-goal comeback to grab a much needed point at Heerenveen as PSV climb into second place with their eighth win in a row over Roda JC.

Saturday 22nd March 2014

FC GRONINGEN 3-1 VITESSE

Vitesse’s hopes of Champions League football suffered a massive blow on Saturday evening after FC Groningen won comfortably 3-1.

Peter Bosz lead his men to Groningen in hope of keeping the pressure on table-toppers Ajax but they fell behind after just ten minutes when the Amsterdammers’ new signing Richairo Zivkovic took advantage of some lapse defending by Guram Kashia. After the Georgian defender mis-kicked a clearance, the 17-year-old forward sped towards goal with the ball. Confidently the youngster skipped past Piet Velthuizen in goal to finish in the empty net. This was Velthuizen’s 200th appearance for Vitesse, but it was to be memorable for all the wrong reasons.

The visitors got back into the game and levelled the game up just before the interval thanks to great vision by Guram Kashia, making amends for the opening goal. Christian Atsu, one of the four players on-loan from Chelsea, showed great composure to chip Marco Bizot after a beautiful lofted ball from the back from Kashia.

After a quiet opening to the second half, the hosts regained the lead in the 56th minute with Nick van der Velden scoring his fourth of the season. Vitesse failed to put a defender on the back post for a Tjaronn Chery corner and Van der Velden took full advantage to side foot an effort home off the inside of the post.

The result was done and dusted just after the hour mark with Tjarron Chery hitting a great left footed low drive from the edge of the areas after Kelvin Leerdam had failed to halt the midfielder’s attempt.

Groningen stay in ninth as Vitesse drop to fourth place, now seven points adrift of leaders Ajax, with the league leaders having a game in hand. The slim hope of their first ever Eredivisie championship has surely now slipped past Vitesse.

TEAMS

GRONINGEN: Bizot, Hateboer, Botteghin, Kappelhof, Burnet, Lindgren, Kieftenbeld, Chery, Van der Velden (Kirm 72), Zivkovic (Zeefuik 86), Kostic (Hagenauw 90+1).

SUBS NOT USED: Van der Lei, Adorjan, Wijnaldum, Cijntje.

GOALS: Zivkovic 10, Van der Velden 56, Chery 63.

BOOKINGS: Van der Velden 70.

VITESSE: Velthuizen, Van Der Struijk (Leerdam 31), Kashia, Vejinovic, Achenteh, Pröpper, Qazaishvili, Atsu, Labyad (Traoré 72), Havenaar (Djurdjevic 72), Piazón.

SUBS NOT USED: Room, Mori, Van Aanholt, Bosz.

GOALS: Atsu 39.

BOOKINGS: Kashia 42, Leerdam 59.

HEERENVEEN 2-2 NEC NIJMEGEN

NEC Nijmegen handed themselves a lifeline in the relegation battle, clawing back from two goals down to Heerenveen to claim a point with only ten men.

Anton Janssen’s NEC, desperate for a good result to help ease their relegation worries, started the better team but against the run of play it was the free scoring Heerenveen that grabbed the lead on 40 minutes. It was a tremendous solo effort from Bilal Basacikoglu as he ghosted through the Nijmegen midfield and defence before firing a low drive past Dennis Gentenaar.

The lead was doubled in first half stoppage time after the tricky Rajiv van la Parra weaved his way in the area and was brought down by Rens van Eijden. Referee Tom van Sichem pointed to the spot and Alfred Finnbogason netted his ninth penalty of the season to take his goals tally up to 24 in 26 games. The goal meant the Iceland international has now overtaken Gerald Sibon to become Heerenveen’s all time leading scorer in the Eredivisie with 48 goals.

NEC were given a lifeline when the in-form striker Michael Higdon netted his 13th of the season with just twelve minutes of time remaining. After Iranian forward Alireza Jahanbakhsh flicked on a Marnick Vermijl cross for the Englishman to take down, control, spin his marker and fire home. The Liverpool-born striker is in real form with the goal being his seventh goal in the last ten outings.

The goal gave Anton Janssen’s men a glimmer of hope of snatching a point but minutes later their chances became greater as Rens van Eijden was given his second yellow for a handball outside the area. However, Heerenveen did not make NEC play and a minute into stoppage time, the relegation battlers stole a point.

After a scramble from a free-kick that Heerenveen failed to clear, Danish midfielder Søren Rieks was in the right place at the right time to fire past Kristoffer Nordfeldt.

Although, NEC remained second bottom, this was a great point to hold the Heerenveen who stay in sixth place.

TEAMS

HEERENVEEN: Nordfeldt, Marzo, Otigba, Kruiswijk, Raitala, De Roon, Ziyech, Van den Berg, Van La Parra (Sinkgraven 62), Finnbogason, Basacikoglu (Slagveer 86).

SUBS NOT USED: Vandenbussche, De Kamps, Fazli, Warmolts, Van Aken.

GOALS: Basacikoglu 40, Finnbogason 45+1P.

BOOKINGS: De Roon 43.

NEC: Gentenaar, Vermijl, Van Eijden, Nielsen, Leiwakabessy, Koolwijk, Rieks, Conboy, Hemlein (Gravenberch 45), Higdon, Jantscher (Jahanbakhsh 45).

SUBS NOT USED: Johnsson, Foor, Disverld, Štefánik, Castillon.

GOALS: Higdon 78, Rieks 90+1.

BOOKINGS: Van Eijden 45, Leiwakabessy 84.

SENT OFF: Van Eijden 87.

PSV 3-1 RODA JC

Philip Cocu’s PSV defeated the struggling Roda JC by three goals to one to notch their eighth consecutive win to fir them into second spot and just six points behind leaders Ajax.

Before Christmas, no-one would have predicted that PSV would be only six points adrift from Ajax but Philip Cocu’s men are now the in-form side in the Eredivisie racking up eight wins in a row is no easy feat.

Roda make PSV work for the win but unfortunately the class shone through and Jürgen Locadia got the hosts underway on 14 minutes. Santiago Arias and Ji-Sung Park combined to play the young striker through on goal to coolly finish past Filip Kurto.

Roda grabbed an unlikely equaliser before the interval through Mitchell Paulissen. The PSV defenders failed to clear a cross and Paulissen turned up on the left side of the area to side-foot past Jeroen Zoet.

Memphis Depay, wearing a protective mask due to suffering a bruised eye socket last weekend, was a threat throughout and on 63 minutes he provided some magic to help his side regain the advantage. Henk Dijkhuizen had a torrid evening trying to keep the masked man’s skills at bay, but after skipping past the defender with ease, Depay fired a shot which was saved by the legs of Kurto. The rebound fell to Locadia and after his shot was blocked, Bryan Ruiz was on hand to tap home for his fourth goal in eight games.

With quarter of an hour to go, Jeffrey Bruma nodded home a Ruiz corner to seal the win. PSV are now up to second place, and look to Champions League qualification although rivals for that positions, Twente and Feyenoord have a game in hand.

TEAMS

PSV: Zoet, Brenet, Rekik, Bruma, Arias, Schaars (Maher 69), Hiljemark, Park, Depay (Narsingh 89), Locadia, Ruiz.

SUBS NOT USED: Tyton, Zanka Jørgensen, Jozefzoon, Bakkali, Hendrix.

GOALS: Locadia 14, Ruiz 63, Bruma 75.

BOOKINGS: Locadia 60.

RODA: Kurto, Dijkhuizen, Luijckx, Ramos, Van Peppen, Fledderus, Kali (Bonevacia 81), Djoum, Hupperts (Höcher 79), Donald, Paulissen (Demouge 76).

SUBS NOT USED: Prus, De Beule, Monteyne, Shkurtaj.

GOALS: Paulissen 41.

BOOKINGS: None.

Click the name above to follow Will on Twitter.

TotalDutchFootball.com WorldFootballWeekly.com

EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE REPORT

Week 28 Eredivisie Report: Ajax held as Twente & Feyenoord victorious

March 16, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Ajax blew the chance of a nine point lead at the top of the Eredivisie away to NAC Breda, as Twente and Feyenoord win to keep the pressure on Frank de Boer’s side.

Sunday 16th March

FC TWENTE 2-1 AZ ALKMAAR

FC Twente moved back into second after coming back from a goal down in a hard-fought late 2-1 victory at home to AZ Alkmaar.

The hosts started well especially young Mexican winger Jesús Manuel Corona who turned Swedish full-back Matías Johansson inside out creating chances but AZ goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado saved his team on many occasions. The 21-year-old known as ‘El Tecatito’ nearly opened the scoring himself on 22 minutes but his effort clipped the top of Esteban’s crossbar.

After absorbing all the Twente pressure it was the visitors that opened the scoring and took the lead on 40 minutes. Steven Berghuis smashed a free-kick on the edge of area through Twente’s wall, with a shot so powerful that goalkeeper Nick Marsman could only palm it into the net.

Quincy Promes set Dušan Tadić up with a great chance just inside the box before the half-time whistle but the Serbian midfielder unusually dragged his effort wide of the post.

Twente emerged after the break possessed with scoring the equaliser and but poor finishing and great AZ defending stopped them from getting the much wanted goal until twenty minutes before time.

Full-back Roberto Rosales chipped a ball through to the Tadić bearing down on goal and the Serb crossed a low cross into the area to find substitute Youness Mokhtar at the back post to tap home to level the scores.

Twente pushed forward for all three points but once again AZ got the number back and defended well until the last kick of the game. After Mokhtar had played in Dušan Tadić on the edge of the area, the midfielder had time to take a touch and lash a shot past Marsman in goal to send De Grolsche Veste into raptures and claim all three points.

Michael Jansen’s side have now cut the difference between themselves and leaders Ajax to seven points. Dick Advocaat will now have to take this defeat on the chin and motivate his players for their trip to Russia on Thursday night to defend a 1-0 lead away to Anzhi Makhachkala in the Europa League.

TEAMS

TWENTE: Marsman, Rosales, Bengtsson, Martina, Koppers, Ebecilio (Eghan 84), Tadić, Gutiérrez, Promes, Djordjevic (Børven 68), Corona (Mokhtar 45).

SUBS NOT USED: Stevens, Schilder, Brama, Roseler.

GOALS: Mokhtar 69, Tadić 90+3

BOOKINGS: Koppers 39, Rosales 61.

AZ: Esteban, Johansson, Viergever, Wuytens, Poulsen, Gudelj, Ortiz (Gorter 70), Elm (Henriksen 68), Berghuis, Jóhannsson (Gudmundsson 60), Beerens

SUBS NOT USED: De Winter, Reijnen, Hoedt, Avdic.

GOALS: Berghuis 40.

BOOKINGS: Poulsen 46, Wuytens 57.

PEC ZWOLLE 2-0 GO AHEAD EAGLES

The Ijsseldelta Stadion was the host of the Ijssel Derby today which saw PEC Zwolle defeat Go Ahead Eagles by two goals to take Ron Jans’s side remain in 8th place in the Eredivisie.

Go Ahead found it difficult as Zwolle look up for the derby and the hosts took the lead just before the half-time whistle was blown. Polish midfielder Mateusz Klich chipped the ball over the Eagles defence where Guyon Fernandez and Jesper Drost were bearing down on the ball and the latter nipped ahead of the former to give Zwolle the lead.

Just after the hour mark, Go Ahead were handed a lifeline as referee Serdar Gözübüyük pointed to the spot after Klich had challenged Jarchinio Antonio inside the penalty area. Eagles captain Jop van der Linden stepped up to take the spot-kick but his effort was easily saved by goalkeeper Diederik Boer.

With just seven minutes remaining, Go Ahead should have given another opportunity from the penalty spot after Maikel van der Werff had his hands around the waist of Marnix Kolder but Gözübüyük waived away the protests. When the video replays were shown, they proved that the visiting team had a point.

However, the visitors kept their head up and nearly equalised deep into stoppage time in unique fashion. We have all seen the goalkeeper come up for the last minute set-piece, but unbelievable Go Ahead’s Danish stopper Stephan Andersen attempted an over-head kick for Van der Linden’s free-kick. The effort hit his own player but was going wide of the post anyways.

Zwolle cemented the points in the third minute of injury time hitting Go Ahead on the counter and on-loan striker Guyon Fernandez notching the winner.

TEAMS

ZWOLLE: Boer, Van Polen, Van der Werff, Broerse (Lachman 77), Van Hintum, Mokotjo (Mahmudov 62), Klich, Hiwat (Narsingh 72), Drost, Thomas, Fernandez.

SUBS NOT USED: Begios, Saymak, Benson, Pereira.

GOALS: Drost 45, Fernandez 90+4.

BOOKINGS: None.

GO AHEAD: Andersen, Schmidt, Vriends, Van der Linden, Schenk, Rijsdijk (Kolder 59), Overgoor, Türüç (Amevor 87), Antonia, Falkenburg, Houtkoop (Godee 77).

SUBS NOT USED: Ter Mate, Azevedo, Haps, Lambooij.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: None.

NEC NIJMEGEN 2-2 FC UTRECHT

Down in the bottom of the Eredivisie, in a result that helps neither side, NEC drew 2-2 with Utrecht which leaves the Nijmegen side still four points from safety.

After a poor display last week, NEC manager dropped first choice goalkeeper Karl-Johan Johansson for Dennis Gentenaar but unfortunately for Gentenaar he found himself beaten after 22 minutes. After Ryan Koolwijk had brought down Tommy Oar, the Australian whipped a free-kick into the penalty area and Dave Bulthuis nodded home to give the away side the advantage.

Just two minutes later, the scores were level with a carbon copy of Bulthuis’s goal. After Bulthuis had conceded a free-kick, the ball was planted in by Koolwijk and English striker Michael Higdon rose above everyone to header towards goal and his effort escaped the clutches of Utrecht keeper Robin Ruiter. This was the Liverpool-born striker’s 12th goal of the season.

The game continued at a fast tempo and just before half-time, Utrecht regained the lead through Jens Toornstra in a strange goal. Hitting NEC on the break, the ball came out to Toornstra on the right-wing, he placed a weak low cross in and striker Steve de Ridder dummied the ball that missed everyone and nestled into the goal.

The hosts grabbed a point on the hour mark as Rens van Eijden crossed the ball back from the right by-line to Jakob Jantscher, with the 25-year-old winger finishing to score his first goal of the season.

NEC stay in 17th on 26 points with Utrecht four points ahead of them in 14th with both in danger of being relegated to the Eerste Divisie.

TEAMS

NEC: Gentenaar, Vermijl, Van Eijden, Nielsen, Leiwakabessy (Gravenberch 74), Koolwijk, Foor (Štefánik 61), Conboy, Hemlein, Higdon, Jantscher (Jahanbakhsh 86).

SUBS NOT USED: Johnsson, Haitz, Disveld, Castillion.

GOALS: Higdon 24, Jantscher 60.

BOOKINGS: Štefánik 79.

UTRECHT: Ruiter, Van der Maarel, Delpierre, Heerings, Bulthuis, Van der Gun, Mårtensson, Toornstra, Oar, De Ridder, Agudelo.

SUBS NOT USED: Verhoeven, Markiet, Ayoub, Sarota, Dorda, Quesada, Van Velzen.

GOALS: Bulthuis 22, Toornstra 45.

BOOKINGS: Van der Maarel 37, De Ridder 76, Agudelo 90+1.

FEYENOORD 2-0 HEERENVEEN

Marco van Basten was left fuming by referee Pieter Vink at De Kuip this past afternoon, obviously frustrated by his side’s 2-0 defeat to Feyenoord.

Vink sent off Heerenveen’s Christian Kum after the defender brought down Tonny Vilhena in the penalty area. Van Basten vented his frustration stating that the penalty and a yellow card would have been sufficient punishment for the defender. The Heerenveen manager proclaimed it was ‘f*cking bullsh*t’ to the Fox Sports cameras.

Of course before this moment, he had saw his side go two goals down to Feyenoord. After a scrappy opening half-hour and quite quiet at times, the visiting goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt was called into action for the first time on 33 minutes. Ruud Vormer whipped in a great ball from a corner that met the head of Stefan de Vrij, but the Swedish ‘keeper palm the ball away. The rebound fell for Joris Mathijsen but the defender failed to connect properly and the Swede gave his side again to send the teams in goal-less.

Just after the interval, Ruud Vormer opened the scoring with an excellent free-kick on the edge of the box. Stefano Marzo, who was already booked, brought down Terence Kongolo and Vormer stepped up to plant the ball home, leaving the obviously unsighted Nordfeldt completely stuck on his line to give Feyenoord the lead.

Five minutes later, Vormer had another chance to score a free-kick from the other side of the area but Nordfeldt was pleased to see this effort centimetres wide of the other side of the post.

On 64 minutes, the lead was doubled by Lex Immers. After a great long ball from new Feyenoord captain Jordy Clasie, it was collected by winger Jean-Paul Boetuis, he spotted the run of Immers in the area and pulled the ball back for the midfielder to side-foot home first time.

On 73 minutes, came the red card to Christian Kum. Immers and Daryl Janmaat and built the move up well down the right wing and the latter laid the ball into the area to Vilhena to spin in the box and put himself through on goal. Kum stuck out a leg and referee Pieter Vink awarded the spot-kick and gave the defender his marching orders. Vilhena stepped up but goalkeeper Nordfeldt guessed the right way and palm the ball away.

The Swedish goalkeeper kept the score down in stoppage time, denying a great effort from outside the area from substitute John Goossens.

The win means that Koeman’s side are now fourth and eight points behind leaders Ajax while Van Basten’s men stay in sixth on 43 points.

TEAMS

FEYENOORD: Mulder, Janmaat, De Vrij, Mathijsen, Kongolo, Clasie, Immers, Vormer (Vilhena 69), Schaken (Armenteros 78), Te Vrede, Boëtius (Goossens 85).

SUBS NOT USED: Lamprou, Van Beek, Martins Indi, Verhoek.

GOALS: Vormer 49, Immers 64.

BOOKINGS: None.

HEERENVEEN: Nordfeldt, Marzo (Otigba 76), Kum, Kruiswijk, Van Anholt, Ziyech, De Roon, Van der Bergh, Van la Parra (Slagveer 64), Finnbogason, Basacikoglu (Sinkgraven 82).

SUBS NOT USED: Vandenbussche, De Kamps, Fazli, Van Aken.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Marzo 28, Ziyech 34, Van Anholt 53, De Roon 56.

SENT OFF: Kum 73.

NAC BREDA 0-0 AJAX

Ajax dropped yet another two points in the title race as NAC Breda held the defending champions to a 0-0 draw in the final game of the weekend.

Frank de Boer’s men were once again disappointing and uninspiring and after just six minutes, the Ajax coach probably knew it was going to be their day when they lost captain Siem de Jong to injury. The attacking midfielder tweaked his hamstring while trailing a loose ball in the NAC box and had to be substituted by Kolbeinn Sigthórsson.

Although Ajax dominated the possession they lacked the creativity to unlock the NAC defence to create any clear cut chances and the hosts should have took the lead just after half an hour through Belgian defender Sepp de Roover. NAC pressed forward down the right wing and the Belgian cut inside and lobbed the ball over the challenge of Niclas Moisander and smashed a half volley into Jasper Cillessen’s path. Unfortunately, for the Belgian and the majority of the 18,500 inside the Rat Verlegh Stadion, the Ajax keeper parried and the defender hit the rebound into Cillessen’s legs. A major let off for the Amsterdammers.

Just before half-time, Thulani Serero created a nearly finished an excellent move that was denied by Jelle ten Rouwelaar, and the rebound fell into the path of Sigthórsson, however, De Roover was present to clear off the line.

Ajax pressed for the goal but never really bothered Ten Rouwelaar and the league leaders had to settle for a share of the points.

NAC Breda jumped into 11th place but are still just six points clear of the relegation places. For Frank de Boer and his team, they sit seven points ahead of their closest rivals. However, they are hardly playing like champions and performances will have to improve, or the chasing pack may inch closer than the Amsterdammers would like.

TEAMS

NAC: Ten Rouwelaar, De Roover, Drost, Kwakman, Hooi (Perica 88), Matic, Poepon, Verbeek (Sarpong 65), Swerts, Buijs, Bodor.

SUBS NOT USED: Babos, Suk, El Allouchi, Seuntjens, Van der Weg.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Kwakman 57, Hooi 64, Swerts 71.

AJAX: Cillessen, Van Rhijn, Veltman, Moisander, Blind, Klaassen, Poulsen (Bojan 77), Serero, Schöne, De Jong (Sigthórsson 8), Kishna (De Sa 61).

SUBS NOT USED: Vermeer, Duarte, Denswil, Riedewald.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Serero 45, Veltman 60.

Click the name above to follow Will on Twitter.

TotalDutchFootball.com WorldFootballWeekly.com

EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE REPORT

Week 28 Eredivisie Report: PSV up to third

March 15, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

PSV extended their winning run to seven games in a row with a great 2-1 win away to Vitesse to lift the Eindhoven side up to third in the league, leaving Philip Cocu thinking… what could his side achieved this season without the mid-season blip he suffered before Christmas.

Saturday 15th March 2014

VITESSE 1-2 PSV

In a ferocious high-octane game where nine yellow cards were handed out by referee Kevin Blom, PSV defeated Vitesse 2-1 in the loud and raucous GelreDome.

PSV needed no inspiration for this fixture after suffering an embarrassing and heavy 6-2 defeat in the reserve fixture at the Phillips Stadion back in December, the Boeren headed into Arnhem looking for revenge. Cocu men’s exploded out of the blocks and got off to a great start after just six minutes.

Vitesse’s number one Piet Velthuizen received a back pass from Rochdi Achenteh and the experienced goalkeeper stuttered with his kicked clearance as Jürgen Locadia closed down. Velthuizen miss-kicked the boot up field and the ball fell perfectly for Locadia to tap the ball home. Not the start Vitesse manager Peter Bosz would have wanted.

PSV were relentless as they sensed Vitesse’s nervousness and on a six game winning streak and brimming with confidence, Cocu’s men pressed for a quick fire second. The usually composed Guram Kashia lost the ball to Locadia on the edge of the box but Memphis Depay unusually failed to get a shot off and let the Vitesse defenders recover and block any efforts on goal.

The hosts began to keep the PSV attacks at bay and calmed themselves down before former PSV midfielder Zakaria Labyad equalised on 19 minutes with a tremendous effort from outside the area. After Kashia laid the January signing on the edge of the box, the PSV defenders were too late in closing Labyad down and he curled his right footed shot past Jeroen Zoet.

Just before the half-hour, the visitors regained the lead in controversial fashion. After a great run down the left wing from Jetro Willems, the left-back was fouled by Jan-Arie van der Heijden in the area and Kevin Blom pointed to the spot. Replays showed that Willems had skipped Van der Heijden’s challenged but the defender trailing arm looked to brush the PSV’s man legs and Willems went down a tad easy.

Memphis Depay stepped up to the take the spot-kick and blasted his shot straight down the middle only to see his effort saved by the legs of Velthuizen. The rebound flicked up high to the back post where Ji-Sung Park headed the ball back across goal so Depay could nod home to make it 2-1.

Velthuizen and his defence protested as they thought that Depay was offside when Park’s header came back to the winger but video showed that the linesman may have made the right decision even though it was a close one. The GelreDome exploded in anger with spurred the home side on and they instantly pressed for an equalising goal.

After the break, the game continued as the first half ended with Vitesse on the all out attack. The defence of Santiago Arias, Jeffrey Bruma, Karim Rekik and Willems held strong and protected their goalkeeper Zoet well, blocking effort after effort, frustrating the hosts even further.

On the hour mark, both sides looked tired as the tempo died down and Depay was replaced by Luciano Narsingh as the young winger has caught an elbow from Renato Ibarra and was groggy as a black eye started to create on Depay’s face.

The game petered out as Vitesse pressed but hardly bothered Zoet in the PSV goal, apart from the odd cross that the Oranje goalkeeper assertively caught every time. They had their chances but Bruma and Rekik stopped any shot before it made to their stopper in goal.

In the dying embers of the game, substitute Lucas Piazón had a glorious opportunity to snatch a point for his side but fluffed his chance as Philip Cocu celebrated his seventh win in a row on the touchline.

PSV temporarily move into third with just two points off Vitesse in second but Twente or/and Feyenoord could leapfrog them with wins in their fixtures tomorrow.

TEAMS

VITESSE: Velthuizen, Van der Struijk (Piazón 69), Kashia, Van der Heijden, Achenteh, Vejinovic, Pröpper, Labyad (Djurdjevic 85), Atsu, Havenaar, Ibarra (Qazaishvili 69).

SUBS NOT USED: Room, Mori, Traore, Van Aanholt.

GOALS: Labyad 18.

BOOKINGS: Ibarra 14, Van der Heijden 28, Havenaar 29, Labyad 33, Achenteh 57.

PSV: Zoet, Arias, Rekik, Bruma, Willems, Schaars, Hiljemark, Park (Maher 79), Ruiz, Depay (Narsingh 69), Locadia (Hendrix 90+4).

SUBS NOT USED: Tyton, Zanka Jørgensen, Brenet, Matavz.

GOALS: Locadia 7, Depay 29.

BOOKINGS: Park 32, Bruma 42, Schaars 56, Willems 74.

HERACLES 2-1 RODA JC

The in-form Bryan Linssen has now scored nine goals in his last nine games as he notched a brace to lead Heracles to a 2-1 win over the relegation troubled Roda JC.

Roda headed into Almelo with their first win in seven games last weekend against NEC and they started well with Guus Hupperts scoring his eighth goal of the season after quarter of an hour gone. The 21-year-old had the goal put on a plate from after Mitchell Donald combined with Berry Powel before setting up Hupperts to score.

Just before the interval, Heracles settle down their restless crowd with the equalising goal. After some great work down the left by Mark Uth, the ball was played into Bryan Linssen on the penalty spot to slot the ball past Filip Kurto to send the fans in at half-time happy.

With 12 minutes left remaining in the game, Linssen popped up with the winner after some slack tired Roda defending. Collecting Jason Davidson’s pass, the Heracles’ top scorer netted with a lovely calm low finish on the turn inside the area, giving Kurto no chance of stopping.

Jon Dahl Tomasson’s Roda sit down in the drop zone in 17th, five points adrift of safety with other relegation candidates Utrecht and Go Ahead Eagles still to play tomorrow. The win lifted Heracles up into 12th place, six points ahead of the bottom three.

TEAMS

HERACLES: Pasveer, Schenkeveld, Streutker (Quansah 45), Davidson, Te Wierik, Rienstra, Tannane, Cziommer (Bruns 45), Rosheuvel (Bel Hassani 84), Linssen, Uth.

SUBS NOT USED: Telgenkamp, Amoah, Van Dijk, Belterman.

GOALS: Linssen 43 & 78.

BOOKINGS: Tannane 54.

RODA: Kurto, Ramos, Van Peppen, Letschert (Monteyne 87), Luijckx, Höcher (Fledderus 68), Donald (Demouge 80), Kali, Sutchuin, Hupperts, Powel.

SUBS NOT USED: Dijkhuizen, Prus, Paulissen, Bonevacia.

GOALS: Hupperts 14.

BOOKINGS: Donald 54.

ADO DEN HAAG 2-1 FC GRONINGEN

ADO has got that ‘Fraser’ feeling as caretaker manager Henk Fraser has now lead his side to three wins and three draws in his six game in charge and has now surely lead the club out of relegation trouble with today’s 2-1 home win over ten-man FC Groningen.

After a goal-less and dull first-half, it took an Eric Botteghin sending off to liven up the game just past the hour mark. The Brazilian was penalised for pushing Ronald Alberg down while through on goal on the counter. It was a terrible error by referee Reinold Wiedemeijer as he awarded a penalty for the foul but the contact was made well outside the box. Ronald Alberg sent goalkeeper Marco Bizot the wrong way to open the scoring.

On 77 minutes, Groningen’s 17-year-old striker Richairo Zivkovic restored parity with a great strike after Filip Kostic had put the youngster through on goal with a ball over the top of the ADO defence. The youngster set to sign for Ajax in the summer had a ineffective game in the lone striker role before finding the net.

Dion Malone grabbed a 89th minute winner to give the hosts breathing space in their battle for survival. Alberg chipped the ball into Malone’s bearing down on goal for the finish.

TEAMS

ADO: Coutinho, Zuiverloon, Wormgoor, Beugelsdijk, Meijers, Malone, Bakker, Gehrt (Kramer 84), Schet (Van Haaren 90), Van Duinen, Alberg.

SUBS NOT USED: Zwinkles, Buwalda, Kanon, Merencia, Cabral.

GOALS: Alberg 63, Malone 89.

BOOKINGS: Malone 8, Wormgoor 71, Schet 85.

GRONINGEN: Bizot, Hateboer, Kappelhof, Botteghin, Burnet, Van Nieff (Zeefuik 90+1), Kieftenbeld, Chery, Van der Velden (Kostic 64), Zivkovic, Kirm (Wijnaldum 68).

SUBS NOT USED: Van der Lei, Hiariej, Lindgren, Adorjan.

GOALS: Zivkovic 78.

BOOKINGS: Van Nieff 51, Bizot 62, Hateboer 70, Burnet 90+4.

SENT OFF: Botteghin 61.

Click the name above to follow Will on Twitter.

TotalDutchFootball.com WorldFootballWeekly.com