Category Archives: EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE REPORT: Sunday 25th August 2013

August 26, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

WEEK 4 – Sunday 25th August 2013

Feyenoord, FC Utrecht and Vitesse Arnhem all pulled off wins to try and salvage their season so far after poor starts in the opening three weeks.

GO AHEAD EAGLES 3-3 FC GRONINGEN

Eredivisie new boys Go Ahead Eagles put in another valiant performance and were unlucky to go home with all three points early Sunday afternoon.

The hosts took the lead after just ten minutes with a yet another goal from Marnix Kolder. Erik Falkenburg found some space down the right and swung a ball across the goal for Kolder to slide home.

Groningen should have had an equaliser on the half-hour but the Eagles were saved by goalkeeper Eloy Room and the woodwork. Nick van der Velden floated in a free-kick that the home side failed to clear and the ball fell to Krisztián Adorján (on-loan from Liverpool) to smash a half-volley towards goal but Room tipped the shot against the crossbar.

On the stroke of half-time, the visitors found their goal. Van der Velden racxed through on goal after evading the offside trap and layed the ball into the on rushing Tjaronn Chery to tap home.

Three minutes after the restart, Eagles went 2-1 in front from that man again, Marnix Kolder. A weak goal that the Groningen defence horribly defended, and as the ball came out to Kolder’s feet, he placed the ball home past a stagnant Marco Bizot.

It was 2-2 on 53 minutes, the orchastator for the goal was the brilliant Filip Kostic. Surging down the left wing, turning Eagles defender Mawouna Amevor with ease, Kostic spun a low cross over to Adorján to finish beautifully.

The away fans weren’t celebrating for long. Just before the hour mark, left-back Xandro Schenk got forward and grabbed his second goal of the season,after another pitiful display of defending by Erwin van de Looi’s team. Various shots came in and Groningen failed to clear their lines, before Schenk blasted home on 59 minutes,

Groningen, 3-2 down and the game looked over on 69 minutes when Adorján received his marching orders for an elbow on Sjoerd Overgoor. It got worse two minutes later when Timo Letschert received his second booking for a clumsy challenge on the edge of the box.

However, the points were shared in the closing stages of the match when substitute striker Genaro Zeefuik scored for the nine men to clinch a vital draw. The powerhouse caused problems throughout his time on the pitch, but he scrambled a ball in after a corner on 87 minutes. It looked liked handball but the goal was awarded.

FEYENOORD 3-1 NAC BREDA

Italian striker Graziano Pelle scored an excellent hat-trick to lead Feyenoord to a 3-1 victory over NAC Breda, the Rotterdam team’s first points of the season.

Feyenoord were dominant and looked a very different side to that over the past three weeks and could have been two or three goals up int he opening ten minutes. It was a feisty contest and scrappy at times with Jordy Clasie and Rydell Poepon both booked for a pushing contest they participated in on 21 minutes.

Tackles continued to fly throughout but we the first goal finally came on 37 minutes and it was the beginning of a quickfire double by Pelle. Clasie swung a free-kick from the left into the area where Pelle rose above everyone to head home, 1-0.

The ever-loud De Kuip got even louder from the kick-off with Pelle finishing a lovely move by Clasie. Two goals up and the home side were cruising.

Another header gave Pelle his treble on 53 minutes. New signing Samuel Armenteros found space down the left to swing a ball towards the back post where Pelle was waiting to nod another into the goal.

NAC’s Joey Suk got a consolation goal six minutes later but it was not enough to change the result.

The pressure is off Ronald Koeman slightly as he heads into a must win game against Kuban Krasnodar in the Europa League on Thursday night.

VITESSE 1-0 FC TWENTE

Peter Bosz’ Vitesse finally got back to winning ways on Sunday with a 1-0 home win over FC Twente.

Tall Japanese striker Mike Havenaar scored the only goal of the game on 22 minutes with a powerful header from a Theo Janssen corner.

The home side were the stronger of the two throughout and should have been two goals ahead on 25 minutes but on-loan Chelsea playmaker Lucas Piazon placed hi shot against the foot of the post.

Twente had their chances too, but poor finishing let them down and they returned back to Enschede with nothing to show for their efforts.

FC UTRECHT 2-0 AZ ALKMAAR

Jan Wouters lives to fight another day as FC Utrecht won their first game of the season to end a bad run, courtesy of two goals from summer signing Steve de Ridder.

After a goal-less first-half, De Ridder, signed from Premier League club Southampton last month, got the opening goal on 54 minutes. Great link-up play between Tommy Oar and Dave Bulthuis down the right set-up the goal, with Bulthuis crossing for De Ridder to slide the ball home.

The lead was extended on 66 minutes with De Ridder’s second. Oar again involved powering through the middle to set De Ridder through on goal, where the former Southampton striker finished coolly.

AZ look jaded and poor over the 90 minutes which may be due their Thursday night Europa League win in Greece over Atromitos. The second leg is this Thursday in Alkmaar, where AZ are leading 3-1 on aggregate.

STANDINGS

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE REPORT: Saturday 24th August 2013

August 25, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

WEEK 4 – Saturday 24th August 2013

PEC Zwolle sit top of the Eredivisie standings with their fourth win in four as Ji-Park Sung, on his league debut scored a late equaliser to keep PSV’s undefeated run in tact.

NEC NIJMEGEN 2-2 RKC WAALWIJK

Managerless NEC Nijmegen nearly clinched their first win of the season through two Michael Higdon spot-kicks but two second-half goals in seven minutes provided a comeback for RKC Waalwijk to share the points.

Alex Pastoor was dismissed on Monday and life without him began with two first-half penalties from Englishman Michael Higdon. Scouser Higdon, was the top scorer in the Scottish Premier League last season with Motherwell, was also named PFA Scotland Players’ Player of the Year because of his accomplishments.

A third penalty of the game gave RKC a lifeline midway through the second period, Sander Duits blasting the spot-kick high into the goal.

With twenty minutes remaining RKC were level. Luxembourg international Aurélien Joachim scoring with a wonderful looping header, from an Ingo van Weert cross deep from the right.

The points were shared and NEC will look this week to replace Pastoor with a new head coach.

HERACLES 1-1 PSV

Incredibly unlucky not to grab all three, Heracles gained a fantastic point against PSV, who looked to be suffering from a Champions League hangover.

Six minutes into the play Heracles scored their goal. PSV’s left-winger Memphis Depay knocked the ball too far out of his control near the edge of his own area and Kwame Quansah dove in and won the ball. Lerin Duarte, controlled the ball and curled it home on the edge of the box past the diving Jeroen Zoet. A great finish.

Depay almost made amends to his mistake on 11 minutes with a trademark long-range free-kick that forced a great scrambling save from Remko Pasveer.

Phillip Cocu’s men looked jaded and sloppy and it was the unfavoured hosts that looked more likely to score the next goal. Bryan Linssen, who scored a wonderful volleyed goal last week, went close with a free-kick of his own on 20 minutes.

As time went on, the Eindhoven got a control of the game and the liveliest of the attacking three, Florian Jozefzoon went close with a shot towards Pasveer’s near post which the goalkeeper turned behind.

PSV should have been level inside first-half stoppage, Jozefzoon again involved worked his way into the box and played in Jurgen Locadia, but a last ditch tackle by Mike te Wierik folied any attempt.

The home side could have furthered their lead minutes into the second period when Linssen curled a beautiful shot towards Zoet’s goal but PSV were saved by the crossbar.

Shortly after the hour mark, Cocu’s side suffered a major blow when Georginio Wijnaldum went down after a 50-50 tackle with Te Wierik. The PSV captain had to be helped from the pitch, due to a problem with his right foot and was replaced by Korean attacking midfielder Park Ji-Sung. Assessments will be made on Monday morning and it is unknown if Wijnaldum will travel with the squad to Milan for Wednesday’s second leg in the Champions League play-off.

Cocu staring his first defeat since taking over as PSV coach in the face was saved by the little Korean with just four minutes to go. Midfielder Stijn Schaars forced his way into the box feeding the ball to Park, who tussled with Heracles defenders before toe poking the ball past Pasveer.

It was the first points that PSV have dropped this season, making a tremendous start to the campaign but they fall into second place after Zwolle’s win later that evening.

ADO DEN HAAG 0-4 RODA JC

In an unexpected result, Roda JC hammered four past ADO to move up to fourth in the league.

The visitors controlled the game from the off and went a goal ahead in the 25th minute, when defender Kees Luijckx out jumped Tom Beugelsdijk at the back post to head in a Marc Höcher cross.

Just before the half-time whistle the lead was doubled from Henk Dijkhuizen.

Surging into the ADO area, Dijkhuizen played a one-two with forward Krisztián Németh before placing the ball into the net with ease.

Even though ADO arrive back on the pitch after the interval looking hungry to get themselves back in the game, it was Roda, on 53 minutes, who grabbed a third. ADO keeper Gino Coutinho was totally caught out by Mark-Jan Fledderus’s free-kick which missed everyone and sailed into the net.

The final nail in ADO’s coffin came with a quarter-of-an-hour remaning. Flicking on another Fledderus free-kick, Mitchell Donald nodded the ball past Coutinho to make it four.

ADO have made a poor start with just the one win this season, as Roda stroll on undefeated in the last three games.

PEC ZWOLLE 2-0 SC CAMBUUR

Although it was quite the even match, PEC Zwolle won their fourth consecutive game against a plucky SC Cambuur side that had their chances to score goals.

It was a goal-less and pretty uneventful first-half with Zwolle striker Fred Benson, usually clinical with his finishing, missed some glorious opportunities to breach Leonard Nienhuis’s goal.

Guyon Fernandez, on-loan from Feyenoord, arrived in the second-half as a half-time substitute for Mustafa Saymak, and opening the scoring with twenty minutes to go. Benson held up the ball in the box and layed it off to Mateusz Klich to drive at goal. Nienhuis could only the parry the ball into the path of Fernandez, who controlled the ball with his hand before tapping home.

The lead should been doubled minutes later, Benson again through on goal, placed his shot into the side-netting.

With twelve minutes to go it was 2-0, the tricky Jesper Drost was tripped by Martijn van der Laan and the referee pointed to the spot. Rochdi Achenteh stepped up and fired home to steal the three points for the new league leaders.

REMAINDER OF WEEK 4 FIXTURES

SUNDAY 25TH AUGUST

GO AHEAD EAGLES vs. FC GRONINGEN

FEYENOORD vs. NAC BREDA

VITESSE ARNHEM vs. FC TWENTE

FC UTRECHT vs. AZ ALKMAAR

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE REPORT: Friday 23rd August 2013

August 23, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

WEEK 4 – Friday 23rd August 2013

Ajax have stumbled again in the defence of their Eredivisie thriller in Friday night’s six goal thriller against Marco van Basten’s Heerenveen.

HEERENVEEN 3-3 AJAX

Frank de Boer will be worried about his side’s shocking defensive frailties as Heerenveen overturned a two-goal deficit to hold Ajax to a 3-3 draw in an exhilarating encounter inside the Abe Lenstra Stadion.

Missing left-back Daley Blind, De Boer was forced to play young Danish defender Nicolas Boilesen as Belgian centre-back Toby Alderweireld passed a late fitness test after suffering a perforated ear drum in the 2-1 win over Feyenoord last Sunday.

Two goalkeeping howlers by Heerenveen’s Swedish stopper Kristoffer Nordfeldt handed Ajax a two goal lead, and both goals were headers from Christian Eriksen corners. The opening goal came as Ajax defender Niklas Moisander rose above everyone at the back post to head down through Nordfeldt’s legs.

Four minutes later, it was two. Icelandic striker Kolbeinn Sigþórsson, also at the far post, rising above the failing Nordfeldt to make it 2-0. However, Van Basten’s side pulled the game back to lead 3-2 at the half-time whistle.

The Eredivisie ‘Golden Boot’ leader Alfred Finnbogason was once again on the scoresheet, nabbing a brace before the break. The Iceland international sprung the offside trap to latch onto Hakim Ziyech’s through-ball and fire past Kenneth Vermeer, before the same combination brought the equaliser when Finnbogason latched onto the Ziyech’s lofted pass and coolly slotted under the goalkeeper.

The turnaround was complete shortly before the internal when Norwegian midfielder Magnus Wolff Eikrem side-footed an effort from the edge of the box past the stunned Vermeer.

The champions Ajax showed their own fighting spirit when Christian Eriksen completed a fine individual performance with a well-placed finish from 25-yards on 66 minutes.

The 3-3 draw leaves both sides neck and neck with Ajax just ahead of Heerenveen in fourth, with the hosts sitting fifth due on goal difference.

REMAINDER OF WEEK 4 FIXTURES

SATURDAY 24TH AUGUST

NEC vs. RKC WAALWIJK

HERACLES vs. PSV

ADO DEN HAAG vs. RODA JC

PEC ZWOLLE vs. SC CAMBUUR

SUNDAY 25TH AUGUST

GO AHEAD EAGLES vs. FC GRONINGEN

FEYENOORD vs. NAC BREDA

VITESSE ARNHEM vs. FC TWENTE

FC UTRECHT vs. AZ ALKMAAR

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EREDIVISIE, NEWS

NEC sack Pastoor

August 19, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

Just another Monday morning and Alex Pastoor is clearing his desk and will begin a new search work after he was fired as coach of NEC.

He arrived in Nijmegen in the summer of 2011, joining from Eerste Divisie side Excelsior. He had a successful period in his first year, in Rotterdam as leaded Excelsior to promotion to the Eredivisie.

The following year, on a tight budget he saved the clubs Eredivisie status and lead some great players in the team. Breakthroughs for Jordy Clasie, Geert Arend Roorda and Ryan Koolwijk came under Pastoor’s leadership.

He has been at NEC for two seasons now, and during the first things started slowly as he suffered six defeats in a row and NEC were in danger of relegation.

The turning point came during a winter training camp in Spain in 2012. After team bonding and finding a new tactical ways of attacking Eredivisie teams, NEC climbed to eighth position in the league that season. Although, Vitesse Arnhem were too strong for them in the play-offs for a place in the Europa League.

After failing to find a win so far this season, NEC management decided to call time on their relationship with Pastoor: “Due to recent results we see no future between Alex Pastor and NEC,” said technical director Edo Ophof.

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE REPORT: Sunday 18th August 2013

August 18, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

WEEK 3 – Sunday 18th August 2013

Frank de Boer’s Ajax defeated Rotterdam-based rival Feyenoord in Sunday afternoon’s De Klassieker, Heracles shock Heerenveen and ADO steal a late win at NAC Breda. However, the day ended with a horror show for FC Utrecht being hit for six by FC Twente.

AJAX 2-1 FEYENOORD

Ronald Koeman’s title hopes with Feyenoord look to be all over as they currently sit nine points adrift of leaders PSV and PEC Zwolle. A Kolbeinn Sigthórsson brace helped Ajax defeated Koeman’s side 2-1 in the first De Klassieker of the season.

The Ajax eleven had to make changes from the team that were defeated 3-2 away to AZ Alkmaar last Sunday. Inspirational captain Siem de Jong is set to miss up to six weeks with a collapsed lung and Danish stalwart Christian Poulsen took his place in Frank de Boer’s team. Feyenoord also need to make changes due to the double sending-off of Stefan de Vrij and Jordy van Deelan last week against FC Twente. Nineteen-year-old right-back Sven van Beek made his debut with Miquel Nelom sitting in at left-back. Koeman had left new signing Samuel Armenteros, on-loan from Anderlecht, on the bench.

Feyenoord have now lost three matches in a row, which is their worst ever start to a season but they took the lead after just six minutes of play. A Ruud Vormer free-kick was swung towards the back post which hit Poulsen on the torso and dropped into Graziano Pelle’s feet. Kenneth Vermeer failed to clear and the Italian striker stabbed the ball into the net.

Before today, Ajax were unbeaten in the last 12 matches at the Amsterdam ArenA, the last defeat coming at the hands of Vitesse Arnhem, 2-0 in November 2012. De Boer’s side took control of the possession and pushed for an equaliser immediately.

Belgian defender Toby Alderweireld smashed a long-range effort towards goal on 17 minutes, all Erwin Mulder could do was parry the ball into Lasse Schöne’s path but the Dane spooned the shot wide.

Relentless in their attack, Ajax nearly got the goal two minutes later. Winger Ruben Schaken got caught in defence with the ball at his feet; Christian Eriksen picked his pocket but like his compatriot earlier placed the shot wide.

Just before the half-hour, Ajax turned up the tempo and after Mulder saved another effort from Eriksen, the defending champions were awarded a penalty.

Another Dane, the tricky Viktor Fischer was dribbling towards goal and Vormer dived in to tackle but brought the youngster down. Or so we thought, replays showed that Fischer clearly dived and Vormer failed to make any contact with the striker. Nevertheless, referee Björn Kuipers pointed to the spot and Iceland international Sigthórsson powerfully converted the spot kick.

Six minutes later, Sigthórsson got his and his team’s second. The Icelandic striker, now getting a permanent starting position after a long series of injuries, nodded a header in from a Ruben Ligeon cross. There was a bit of confusion as the header crashed off the underside of crossbar, but it bounced over the line. Fischer had a great chance to make it 3-1 before the half-time whistle but he crashed his shot against the post.

The second-half was majorly uneventful and although Feyenoord saw more of the ball, De Boer’s side held on for the three points. Ronald Koeman is now under major pressure as his side has failed to pick up a point in three matches and must start next week hosting NAC Breda. For Ajax, they travel to face Heerenveen to try and keep the pace of the title race as PSV run on.

HEERENVEEN 2-4 HERACLES

After a great start to the new campaign by Marco van Basten’s Heerenveen, they fell 4-2 to Heracles Almelo this afternoon.

De Superfriezen’s Icelandic hotshot Alfred Finnbogason, was at it again, scoring his fourth goal in three games after just three minutes into the game. Celtic have been watching Finnbogason to replace the void that Gary Hooper left by leaving for Norwich. The Scottish scouts would have been impressed they way he headed home Magnus Eikrem’s corner after escaping his marker at the near post.

Heracles were in poor form before today and their star player Lerin Duarte should have levelled the scores on 24 minutes. The midfielder found himself breaking the offside trap and was one-on-one with Kristoffer Nordfeldt, but Duarte hauled his shot wide of the post.

Ghanaian striker Matthew Amoah had another opportunity to draw level on 33 minutes, but his toe poke from close range was denied by Nordfeldt. Just before the teams broke for the interval, Duarte got his goal. Striker Mikhail Rosheuval whipped in a cross and there was Duarte to head home to equalise. Swedish ‘keeper Nordfeldt will be disappointed in the goalkeeping for this goal as the header squirmed under his legs.

The second period started slowly and the hosts have a great chance to regain the lead ten minutes into the half. Finnbogason was through on goal but instead of taking a shot the Icelandic international unselfishly passed to Luciano Slagveer who fired his shot into the arms of Remko Pasveer.

On 62 minutes, some poor defending by Van Basten’s men was punished by Ben Reinstra. Kenny Otigba dwelled on the ball and Reinstra finished with precision.

It was 3-2 six minutes later with a tremendous volleyed goal from Mike te Weirik. From 25 yards out, Te Weirik hit the ball sweetly on the half volley, giving the goalkeeper no chance of stopping.

On 72 minutes, Heerenveen grabbed a goal back and got themselves back in the game, as Rajiv van La Parra’s cross was turned in by Joey van den Berg.

Heracles sealed the win with two minutes remaining with another cracking goal. Bryan Linssen, a summer signing from relegated VVV Venlo, used some tremendous skill to cut inside the box from the left, before power driving a first time shot past Nordfeldt.

The first three points for Heracles and a much improved performance from their last two outings. As for Marco van Basten’s side, it was a disappointing defeat that highlighted some problems that need to be sorted if their aim is for European football next year.

NAC BREDA 1-2 ADO DEN HAAG

We had to wait until 76 minutes for the deadlock to be broken. Aaron Meijers picked the ball up just outside the penalty area before smashing a shot past goalkeeper Jelle ten Rouwelaar.

NAC Breda equalised from the penalty spot, which was their first goal of the season. ADO’s goalkeeper Gino Coutinho fouled Alex Schalk, and the striker converted to make it 1-1.

We still had time for drama deep into second-half stoppage time. With his first touch of the game since coming on, Michiel Kramer fired past Ten Rouwelaar to snatch the three points.

FC TWENTE 6-0 FC UTRECHT

The future of Jan Wouters in charge of Utrecht is in major doubt after a disastrous six goal defeat away to FC Twente.

The day started badly for Utrecht in the warm-up with first choice goalkeeper Robbin Ruiter picking up an injury and thus Jeroen Verhoeven replacing him in the first eleven.

Twente hit their first goal after just eight minutes when Quincy Promes twisting and turning two defender then hitting a low shot past Verhoeven. Two minutes later, Twente were awarded a dubious penalty, after an apparent foul by defender Johan Mårtensson on Shadrach Eghan. Serbian international Dušan Tadić converted the spot-kick to double the lead.

Shell-shocked Utrecht were 3-0 down after 25 minutes. Promes picked up a long ball in space down the right-wing, crossed into the box for Luc Castaignos to fire home.

It gopt worse for Wouters’ men as Castaignos added his second and his sides fourth on 35 minutes. The striker met a Tadić cross, with a diving header.

It was five twenty minutes into the second half. Tadić surged down the left-wing, before sending a pinpoint accurate cross into the box for Promes to nab his second.

Just before the final whistle, the final nail in Utrecht’s coffin was hammered home as captain Rasmus Bengtsson sent a powerful header past Verhoeven again.

Wouters and Utrecht now look set for a relegation battle this season and between the manager and Alex Pastoor of NEC, they both look favourites to be dismissed soon.

STANDINGS

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE REPORT: Saturday 17th August 2013

August 18, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

WEEK 3 – Saturday 17th August 2013

PSV and surprisngly PEC Zwolle have three wins out of three and top the table after matchday one of week three. Only themselves and Heerenveen have 100% records with the Friesian side due to play on Sunday at home to Heracles.

PSV 3-0 GO AHEAD EAGLES

PSV keep up their 100% record with another win at home to Go Ahead Eagles, who headed into this game undefeated coming off a great victory hosting ADO Den Haag last weekend.

Eindhoven coach Philip Cocu needed to make two changes to his team due to injuries to young duo Jurgen Locadia and Zakaria Bakkali. Slovenian Tim Matavz returned in the lone spot up front with Florian Jozefzoon appearing on the right-wing in his first start for the club since his €850,000 move from RKC.

It was an even first-half with either ‘keeper being worked well but PSV right-back Santaigo Arias, a 20-year-old Colombian recently signed from Sporting Lisbon, was suffering with Eagles’s left-wing attacks. Down the left, Xander Houtkoop and Deniz Türüç were getting past Arias time after time, therefore Cocu made the decision to sub the Colombian for 19-year-old Joshua Brenet after half-an-hour, and the youngster coped well throughout.

Memphis Depay, on PSV’s left-wing, got into the game towards the end of the first half and Eagles goalkeeper Eloy Room, on loan from Vitesse, had to stop him three times from scoring before the interval.

Arriving for the second half, PSV stormed out of the blocks and found a breakthrough within two minutes. Jetro Willems finding space down the left, fired a ball across the box, Matatvz intercepted at the front post and placed Jozefzoon in to score on his first start.

The Philips Stadion faithful roared their team on and it was two eight minutes later. Swedish international Oscar Hiljemark hitting a low long range effort past Room from around 25 yards out.

The game was wrapped up with nine minutes remaining with a 30 yard free-kick from Depay. A swerving driving effort, that Room could only manage to palm onto the post but into the goal.

Another good win for Philip Cocu’s men who sit on top with superior goal difference to second placed PEC Zwolle, ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League first leg tie against Serie A giants AC Milan.

SC CAMBUUR 4-1 FC GRONINGEN

After a promising start to the season, the world has come crashing down on Groningen, suffering a heavy 4-1 shock defeat away to lowly SC Cambuur.

Cambuur had failed to score a goal in the past two weeks of the season but they managed to find the net within two minutes of this match. Michiel Hemmen, scoring his first goal in the Eredivisie, pounced on a loose ball to finish after a mistake by Eric Botteghin.

It could have been two after 12 minutes with Groningen goalkeeper Marco Bizot saving his side on many occasions with a barrage of Cambuur attacks. The home side’s pressure was relentless and they did double the lead on 21 minutes through Erik Bakker. A one-two between Bakker and Hemmen placed the former into a lovely position in the box to time a first-time shot into Bizot’s goal.

The new boys were finding their groove and it was three on the stroke of half-time. Oebele Schokker crossed an inswinging corner and defender Ramon Leeuwin rose above everyone to power a header home. Groningen was sinking fast and would have been glad to hear the half-time whistle.

The away side emerged for the second-half knowing that they needed an early goal if they had any chance out getting back into the game and they scored five minutes after the restart. Michael de Leeuw, who had replaced the injured David Texeira midway through the first-half, scoring the goal. Nick van der Velden created some space down the right and swung in a cross for De Leeuw to smash a header past Leonard Nienhuis.

Groningen failed to score any more and Cambuur fourth killed off any chance of a comeback on 69 minutes. A lovely combination move by the hosts, which was finished by a low drive from Wout Droste from the right of the penalty area.

A huge win for Cambuur, finally getting some points on the board but as for Groningen, it was a terrible display. The game highlighting many problems for the team, and coach Erwin van de Looi will tend to these before next week’s travel to Deventer to play Go Ahead Eagles.

RKC WAALWIJK 1-2 AZ ALKMAAR

AZ Alkmaar travelled to Waalwijk and beat RKC 2-1 with Maarten Martens scoring the late winner just seconds after Jean-David Beauguel had equalised for the hosts.

AZ took a fourth-minute lead through American striker Aron Jóhannsson. After Nemanja Gudelj was trying to force his way into the box, the ball fell to the unmarked Jóhannsson to dink the ball over the onrushing Czech goalkeeper Jan Šeda.

RKC kept their composure and pressed for an equaliser with caution, and had to wait until seven minutes remaining to draw level.

French striker Beauguel had only been on the pitch for a matter of minutes replacing defender Ingo van Weert. Rushing onto a long ball from the counter-attack, the tall striker powered his way past defender Nick Viergever to chip goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado to send the crowd into raptures.

The crowd quickly calmed down a minute later when Gudelj crossed deep from the right to meet the volleying right foot of Martens to take home the points. A crushing blow for Erwin Koeman’s side.

NEC NIJMEGEN 1-5 PEC ZWOLLE

The pressure is on for NEC coach Alex Pastoor, his team is propping up the league without a point and victims of a crushing 5-1 defeat to highflying PEC Zwolle.

Zwolle’s Jesper Drost scored after 12 seconds last weekend, making his goal the fastest ever in Eredivisie history. However, Drost must have thought his record had been smashed right in front of his eyes when NEC’s Victor Pálsson drove the ball home after just ten seconds on the clock, but English striker Michael Higdon was penalised for a foul a second earlier.

Drost was on the scoresheet again putting Zwolle in the lead on 15 minutes. His first shot was saved by Karl-Johan Johnsson, but he headed the rebound home.

The pair of Youness Mokhtar and Kamohelo Mokotjo once again ran the show for Zwolle and the two combined three minutes later to make it 2-0. The Moroccan midfielder Mokhtar weaved his way in and out of the NEC defence before laying onto the South African Mokotjo for his second goal of the campaign. The Nimigen crowd were not happy and boos rang out of the Goffertstadion.

The pain continued for Pastoor’s side before half-time with striker Fred Benson, lively throughout, grabbing his first goal of the day on 37 minutes. Once again, the tricky Mokhtar taking on defenders then whipped a ball for Benson to head home at the front post, to send the away side into the break three goals to the good.

Two more goals were added early in the second period. Surging down the wing, left-back Maikel van der Werff continued into the area and laid it on a plate for Benson to tap home for his second on 49 minutes. As Benson danced to celebrate, a small percentage of the NEC fans were seen leaving the stadium in disgust.

More boos rang out just three minutes later as Zwolle scored their fifth and final goal. Some good work from Mokotjo set-up Mokhtar to fire home to score a goal that he had well deserved.

NEC’s only consolation came from Christoph Hemlein’s 76th-minute strike which was met with sarcastic applause from the home fans. They had a perfect chance to score a second after Hemlein was fouled in the area by Zwolle ‘keeper Kevin Begios, but Higdon hit a poor penalty that was easily saved by the goalkeeper. It has been a poor start to the season from the English striker and he may be in danger of being dropped if his action in front of goal does not improve.

The Nijmegen side are in major trouble failing to grab any points in three outings and conceding five goals in two consecutive games. The pressure is indeed on for Alex Pastoor and they must look for victory at home to RKC next weekend, if he is still in charge by then, after most of the fans are calling for his resignation.

Zwolle on the other hand maintain an 100% record with three wins in three and they look stronger and stronger as the games go on, they host newly promoted Cambuur next Saturday night.

RODA JC 1-1 VITESSE

Two goals in seven minutes settled a 1-1 draw between Roda and Vitesse. Highly-rated Brazilian playmaker Lucas Piazón, on-loan from Chelsea, made his first start and impressed. His skill nearly produced the first goal on six minutes, he slalomed through three Roda defenders but Vitesse failed to capitalise on the Brazilian’s good work.

We had to wait until 62 minutes to get our first goal. Valeri Kazaishvili putting the visitors ahead after another Chelsea loanee, Patrick van Aanholt has pressed his way down the left-wing. The lef-back continued into the area to lay the ball off to the Georgian to finish high into the goal superbly.

Seven minutes the game was tied through some great reactions from Roda striker Marc Höcher. After captain Mark-Jan Fledderus had seen his shot crash off the crossbar, the alert Höcher fired the ball back across the goal to send the ball home into an empty net.

REMAINDER OF WEEK 3 FIXTURES

SUNDAY 18TH AUGUST

AJAX vs. FEYENOORD

HEERENVEEN vs. HERACLES

NAC BREDA vs. ADO DEN HAAG

FC TWENTE vs. FC UTRECHT

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE REPORT: Sunday 11th August 2013

August 11, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

WEEK 2 – Sunday 11th August 2013

PSV Eindhoven will be celebrating tonight after title rivals Ajax and Feyenoord both tasted defeats just two weeks into the new season. Another great day for goals in the Eredivisie and Will Burns is here to describe them all.

FEYENOORD 1-4 FC TWENTE

The first game of the season at De Kuip and as always the crowd was jumping, well that was before the game. After the final whistle the supporters were leaving hanging their heads in shame. Feyenoord finished the match with just nine men on the field and Twente had defeated them by four goals to one, ending a 28-match unbeaten streak in Rotterdam.

The hosts went ahead after half an hour with their usual source to goals, Italian Graziano Pelle heading in at the front post from a Jordy Clasie out-swinging corner.

Twente hit back from the kick-off and fired a warning shot when former Feyenoord striker Luc Castaignos smashed a shot at Erwin Mulder’s goal that rattled the crossbar, and the woodwork had saved Koeman’s men.

They did not take heed of the warning as a minute later the scores were level and it was another former De Kuip man who scored the goal. Kyle Ebecilio recently signing on a free from Premier League club Arsenal kept his cool to finish inside the area, after a scramble.

With usual right-back Daryl Janmaat injured, the young Jordy van Deelen was making his first start for the club and midway through the second half he made a fatal mistake. Failing to get ahead of Shadrach Eghan, he pulled the Ghanaian midfielder down in the box and referee Richard Liesveld pointed to the spot and dismissed the debutant. As the rookie was trudging off the field, Dusan Tadic stepped up and slotted home the spot-kick to give Twente the lead.

Nine minutes later, Feyenoord lost another defender to the red card. Stefan de Vrij who had stupidly been booked midway through the first-half for diving in on a tackle he had no business is challenging for in the opposition’s half, did the same again on Castaignos inside the centre circle.

Twente’s attacking left-back Dico Koppers, a recent buy from Ajax in the summer, won a penalty surging into the box and being felled by Joris Mathijsen. Mathijsen received a yellow and Tadic converted his second penalty of the match.

The game was done but Twente weren’t finished as Castaignos and Tadic combined on the edge of the box and the former finished clinically to make the day worse for the Rotterdam fans.

Pressure will be on Koeman now, his team was tipped to be title challengers, but are now already six points off the top spot. The two defeats in two equals their worst start since the 1963/64 season, fifty years ago.

AZ ALKMAAR 2-3 AJAX

Last years’ Eredivisie champions Ajax took a major blow in the defence of their title as AZ Alkmaar gained revenge for last month’s Johan Crujiff Schaal match, and ended their fifteen match unbeaten run with a 3-2 victory on Sunday afternoon.

Frank de Boer’s men did take the lead on 20 minutes with a wonderful free-kick from Danish playmaker Christian Eriksen. From around 25 yards out, he lifted the ball superbly over the wall, spinning low into the goal past Esteban Alvarado, leaving the Costa Rican goalkeeper helpless.

The home side were level before half-time due to some bad goalkeeping by Dutch international Kenneth Vermeer. Trying to punch the ball away in a battle with Viktor Elm but flapped miserably and the ball fell in the path of Roy Beerens to poke home.

De Boer must have been furious with his goalkeeper so much that he replaced him at half-time with Jasper Cillessen. The Amsterdammers regained the lead on the hour mark but Siem de Jong delightfully finishing a Bojan cross, but it was poor defending from AZ as the Oranje midfielder was all alone to score.

Then disaster struck for Ajax five minutes later. Right-back Ricardo van Rhijn pulled down Nick Viergever in the penalty area and received his marching orders. The new American international Aron Jóhannsson’s spot-kick hit the back of the net and the reigning league champions were on the ropes.

Shortly after his entrance substitute Maarten Martens was invaluable for AZ, his beautiful pin-point cross found Elm unmarked at the back post, who placed a superb first-time volley into the back of the net.

It was a fantastic win for Gertjan Verbeek and the fans inside the AFAS Stadion but will probably be celebrated more by PSV coach Philip Cocu, whose side are already three points ahead of their rivals after just two games.

HIGHLIGHTS

FC GRONINGEN 2-0 FC UTRECHT

Although less convincing than last week in Nijmegen, FC Groningen won their second game of the season. Utrecht, going through a real bad spell at the moment, fell 2-0 in the Euroborg Stadion, thanks to goals from Nick van der Velden and SIXTEEN-year-old Richairo Živkovic.

For those who had not taken their seat when the opening whistle was blown by referee Dennis Higler, they may have missed his second whistle too, when he blew for a penalty kick. Utrecht’s captain Mark van der Maarel fouling Filip Kostic and Van der Velden took advantage of the spot-kick.

FC Groningen pressed throughout but did not double the score until 71st minute. After Robbin Ruiter parried a Van der Velden shot, the young Živkovic, brought on as a substitute just five minutes earlier, cooly converted a rebound. This was his second goal in two games after playing a total of just 12 minutes of play this season so far.

RKC WAALWIJK 4-2 VITESSE

After crashing out of Europe on Thursday, Vitesse travelled to Waalwijk to turn their attention back to the league where they defeated Heracles 3-1 last Sunday.

Within three minutes, it looked good for them as Kelvin Leerdam headed home at the front post from a Theo Janssen corner. Going forward, it was clear to see that the visitors were pressing a lot better than Thursday’s night’s defeat to FC Petrolul but defensively they looked dodgy. Patrick van Aanholt especially, getting caught out and minutes after the goal, contributing to what could have been an equaliser.

The Chelsea man and Jan-Arie van der Heijden passing around in their own penalty area and Luxembourg international striker Aurélien Joachim caught them out and had a glorious chance to put RKC level, but poorly placed his shot wide.

On 12 minutes, RKC were level. Some tremendous work from Romeo Castelen turning Van Aanholt inside out on the right-wing and crossing for Robert Braber to finish coolly.

Before half-time, Castelen himself got on the scoresheet and put RKC in the lead. Peter Jungschläger dinked a lovely ball over the defence and Castelen ran on to score his first goal in the Eredivisie for six years. The former Feyenoord winger had spells him Russia and Germany since leaving the Rotterdam club.

Vitesse boss Peter Bosz had to turn this around and replaced Van Aanholt and Giorgi Chanturia for Davy Propper and Valeri Qazaishvili. On the 54th minute mark, Qazaishvili scored the equaliser.

At that moment, the Arnhem side may have took the draw but RKC were not and two goals in as many minutes from Sander Duits sent Vitesse and their fans home miserable.

STANDINGS

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE REPORT: Saturday 10th August 2013

August 10, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

WEEK 2 – Saturday 10th August 2013

A fantastic day for football in Holland, starting off with the fastest goal in the Eredivisie… ever and ending with a 17-year-old star being born scoring a wonderful hat-trick.

HERACLES 1-3 PEC ZWOLLE

Heading into this game full of confidence after defeating Feyenoord on home soil last weekend, Zwolle fly into their meeting with Heracles and were leading after just 12 seconds. Jesper Drost scored the fastest goal in Eredivisie history. Straight from the kick-off the ball was played through by Mustafa Saymak to Drost down the left wing, the 20-year-old sprinted past Christian Dorda and slotted the ball home underneath the arms of goalkeeper Remko Pasveer.

The hosts were in shock and even more so when after 12 minutes they found themselves with a two-goal deficit. Zwolle’s Youness Mohktar feeding in South African midfielder Kamohelo Mokotjo on the edge of the box unmarked and as he was closed down by Pasveer and two defenders, he lofted the ball over them all and into the empty net.

On 42 minutes, Heracles got the goal they deserved after dominating the majority of the first-half possession. A corner was failed to be cleared by Zwolle’s defence and Matthew Amoah fired the ball across the goal, Maikel van der Werff spooned his clearance into the corner of Kevin Begios’ goal.

Zwolle thought they had a third and once again the trouble from Heracles came down the left side of their defence. Mateusz Klich found acres of space and played in Fred Benson to finish, but the striker was deemed to be offside.

Klich went onto miss penalty on 80 minutes but soon after substitute Guyon Fernandez arrived to score again for the second week in a row bagging a 91st minute tap-in after Heracles had pressed too many players forward searching for an equaliser.

Two wins in two for PEC Zwolle, which no-one would have predicted, and with players like Van der Werff (who played well before his own goal), Fred Benson, Jesper Drost and Kamohelo Mokotjo pulling the strings, and with Ron Jans leading all this, they could go far this year.

NAC BREDA 0-2 HEERENVEEN

Marco van Basten will be celebrating also this evening after his Heerenveen side have gained maximum points out of their first two games of the season.

The 4-2 home win against AZ Alkmaar last Saturday was not reflected in this game as De Superfriezen had to work hard for the 2-0 away win at NAC Breda.

The opening goal left a question – was it a fortunate goal or a stroke of genius? Hakim Ziyech looped a ball towards the far post with a free-kick from the right-wing and goalkeeper Jelle ten Rouwelaar could do nothing but watch as it nestled into the right-hand corner of his goal – see video below

Shortly after Alfred Finnbogason came close to scoring, but Belgian defender Sepp De Roover blocked the Iceland internationals effort.

After the internal, NAC had two good chances in quick succession to level the score, but Alex Schalk and Sarpong failed to get the ball past goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt. The home team pressed for the levelling goal for the remainder of the game but in fairness were not at their most dangerous.

Heerenveen cemented the points in the stoppage time, and it was that man Finnbogason on the scoresheet to score his third in two games.

GO AHEAD EAGLES 2-1 ADO DEN HAAG

After a good point last week against FC Utrecht, Go Ahead Eagles are unbeaten in their return to the Eredivisie, defeating ADO Den Haag 2-1 in their first home game of the season.

From the kickoff, Go Ahead looked the most eager of the two and went forward without any fear looking for the opening goal. On the back foot, ADO seemed intimidated and the Eagles smelt blood with Marnix Kolder looking to take up the role of predator.

Gino Coutinho kept his team on level terms saving chances from Kolder and Jacindo Antonia until the 21st minute when left back Xandro Schenk found the net with a beautiful free-kick from the edge of the area.

The goal shook some life into ADO, and they began to do some pressing of their own and when goalkeeper Eloy Room parried a header, Mike van Duinen was in the right place at the right time to prod in the equaliser.

The second half was a battle, and unlike the first-half more of an equal half but yet Go Ahead clinched the three points with just ten minutes remaining. Kolder scoring from the edge of the area from an acute angle to send the Deventer crowd into a frenzy.

This was the Eagles first win in the Eredivisie since 22nd March 1996 which was a 3-0 away win to Vitesse.

PSV 5-0 NEC NIJMEGEN

What can I say about this team already this season? What can I say about 17-year-old Zakaria Bakkali already this season? A star has well and truly been born – the young Belgian winger scored a hat-trick this evening of the highest quality and the Philips Stadion crowd left the stadium this evening very optimistic about their and his future.

It was a five-star performance from the young PSV side, the oldest player in the starting line-up was their captain Georginio Wijnaldum, aged 22.

The opening goal was created by Jurgen Locadia. The 19-year-old striker split the NEC defence open with a ball through to the 17-year-old Bakkali, who smashed a shot towards goal which crashed with the underside of the bar and into the goal. The noise the ball made hitting off the crossbar made the Eindhoven crowd erupt and the goal showed that this young team’s attacking confidence is going from strength to strength.

Minutes later, with the Philips Stadion noise levels rising with every touch of the ball as each play builded, they thought they had added a second when Swedish midfielder Oskar Hijlemark swung a ball into Locadia, but the striker was caught offside while finishing the move.

New loan signing Ji-Sung Park was onlooking in the stands but he must be thinking where he can fit into this team at 32 years of age.

PSV went in for the break only one goal for the good but two minutes into the second period, the Belgian was at it again as he doubled the lead. On the edge of the box, just to the right, he cut inside, dipping and faking, fooling the NEC defenders then curling a low drive past Karl-Johan Johnsson. The goalkeeper maybe should have done better but never the less it was 2-0.

On the hour mark, PSV found the net again. A quick free-kick was took by Adam Maher feeding the alert Wijnaldum through on goal while the NEC defenders slept and he finished coolly to make it three.

Within the 75 minute mark, PSV punished the Nijmegen side even further. Attacking left-back Jetro Willems switching his play into the middle of the pitch and layed a ball on for Wijnaldum, who was surging down the right to fire a shot across the goal and into the net. Another good goal for the young side but the best was yet to come.

The 81st minute proved to be not just the icing on the cake for PSV but a moment that young Bakkali and PSV fans will never forget. He clinched his first hat-trick of his career with a goal that Lionel Messi would be proud of. This time on the left wing, Willems and Locadia combined to flick the ball onto the prodigy. Collecting the ball just left to the edge of the box, he started twisting and turning until setting himself up just inside the box on his right foot. His effort was wonderful, it was perfect, a curling high placed shot into the top corner, just inside the bar and the post.

The crowd exploded for the fifth time, but on this occasion it was the loudest. On this performance, one may have to make this young team the favourites to finally end Ajax’s monopoly on the Eredivisie title.

HIGHLIGHTS

REMAINDER OF WEEK 2 FIXTURES

SUNDAY 11TH AUGUST

FEYENOORD vs. FC TWENTE

AZ ALKMAAR vs. AJAX

FC GRONINGEN vs. FC UTRECHT

RKC WAALWIJK vs. VITESSE ARNHEM

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE REPORT: Friday 9th August 2013

August 9, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

WEEK 2 – Friday 9th August 2013

Roda JC got off the mark after last week’s resounding 3-0 by defending champions Ajax with a 2-0 with fellow relegation contenders SC Cambuur.

RODA JC 2-0 SC CAMBUUR

The newly promoted SC Cambuur still search for their first goal and they failed to create any decent opportunities within the ninety minutes inside the Limburg Stadion.

We had to wait until 25 minutes for the first real chance which was wasted by Krisztián Németh. The former Liverpool youth striker beat the offside trap and rounded goalkeeper Leonard Nienhuis beautifully, but his finish let him down as his effort creeped wide of the open goal.

Németh found the net on 34 minutes, a cross floated in by Mark-Jan Fledderus towards the feet of Guus Hupperts at the back post. The Cambuur defence failed to clear and the ball fell to the Hungarian to finish this time.

The break came and went and the Eredivisie new boys made a double change bringing in Mart Dijkstra and their new loan signing this week, Marcel Ritzmaier from PSV. The young Austrian helped Cambuur take control of the game and start winning the midfield battles, resulting in Roda launching long balls to find a counter attack. The boys from Leeuwarden spent the majority of the second half with the ball in their possession, but the likes of Jody Lukoki, Martijn Barto and Mohamed El Makrini were disappointing and Roda ‘keeper Filip Kurto was barely tested.

With just a minute remanining, Roda finally cemented the three points with Mitchell Donald getting on the scoresheet. Another long ball was hit and Frank Demouge jumped with Ramon Leeuwin to nod the ball into Donald’s path to make it 2-0.

HIGHLIGHTS

REMAINDER OF WEEK 2 FIXTURES

SATURDAY 10TH AUGUST

HERACLES vs. PEC ZWOLLE

NAC BREDA vs. HEERENVEEN

GO AHEAD EAGLES vs. ADO DEN HAAG

PSV vs. NEC NIJMEGEN

SUNDAY 11TH AUGUST

FEYENOORD vs. FC TWENTE

AZ ALKMAAR vs. AJAX

FC GRONINGEN vs. FC UTRECHT

RKC WAALWIJK vs. VITESSE ARNHEM

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE REPORT: Sunday 4th August 2013

August 4, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

WEEK 1 – Sunday 4th August 2013

It was a hot summer’s day today in the Eredivisie, with water breaks introduced by the league halfway through each half. The action did not cool down either so please feel free to take a break yourself half way through the review.

SC CAMBUUR 0-0 NAC BREDA

Sunday’s games kicked off with one of the Eredivisie new boys as Cambuur stepped into the Dutch top flight for the first time for thirteen years, and were roared on by a lively crowd inside the Cambuur Stadion. After an even first-half, the home side came out the better side, in according to the pundits, a battle of the two relegation contenders.

Dwight Lodeweges will be proud of his side’s performance and how they held their own against NAC Breda. None of the eleven players selected have scored at the highest level. Jody Lukoki, on loan from champions Ajax, appeared as a half-time substitute and looked the most likely to make things happen, but the goal did not materialise.

FC UTRECHT 1-1 GO AHEAD EAGLES

After an embarrassing exit from the Europa League in midweek against Luxembourgian side FC Differdange 03, FC Utrecht had to shrug the disappointment off and pull their socks up to entertain the newly promoted Go Ahead Eagles.

On a baking hot day in Utrecht, Jan Wouters side did look to have put the defeat behind them as they dominated the first-half proceedings and found a breakthrough in the 15th minute. Australian midfielder Tommy Oar crossed in from a right-wing free-kick and Dave Bulthuis rose above everyone to nod his team ahead.

Utrecht pressed for a second as Japanese playmaker Yoshiaki Takagi was pulling the strings for Jens Toornstra and Jacob Mulenga but Go Ahead keeper Eloy Room kept the danger men at bay.

The game became a tale of two halves with the new boys dominating the second half and drew level within a minute of the restart. Xander Houtkoop, who scored sixteen goals last year in Eerste Divisie, bursted forward down the left and smashed the finish past Robbin Ruiter.

The disgruntled home crowd got on their teams’ back as Go Ahead smelt blood and went for the kill. Unfortunately the goal never arrived for them and it was mainly due to the fact Ruiter was in the Utrecht goal. Ruiter was pulling out stops from Marnix Kolder, Jarchinio Antonia and Houtkoop.

The draw look to be on the cards until we reached added time at the end of the ninety. Jop van der Linden struck the post with an excellent free-kick two minutes into stoppage time.

The boos rang out at full-time inside the Stadion Galgenwaard, Wouters will be beginning to feel the pressure even inside the opening game of the season.

VITESSE 3-1 HERACLES

New Vitesse coach Peter Bosz faced his old side Heracles Almelo and although he lost his two major stars in Wilfried Bony and Marco van Ginkel in the summer, his side performed well and gained a great 3-1 victory.

In a lovely sign of respect, the away displayed the banner shown below to appreciate what Bosz and his assistant Hendrie Kruzen had done for Heracles under their leadership.

Vitesse debutant Kelvin Leerdam, on his first start for the club since his move from Feyenoord, grabbed the lead for his new side on 26 minutes when he deflected Theo Janssen’s shot past Remko Pasveer in the Heracles goal.

The lead was doubled four minutes later as the tricky Georgian left-winger Valeri Kazaishvili cut inside and surged forward, before floating over a cross towards forward Marcus Pedersen. The Norwegian returning to the club after a loan spell at Danish side Odense, guided the ball into the net.

After the interval, Bosz’s side continued to control the match, but they had to wait until ten minutes remaining to extend the lead further. Ecuadorian wide man Renato Ibarra sprinted into the area before firing a rocket for the third.

Vitesse should have had a fourth on 84 minutes but substitute striker Mike Havenaar shockingly misfired and the empty goal, stayed empty as the ball ballooned over the crossbar.

Heading into stoppage time, Heracles got a consolation, with debutant Matthew Amoah taking full advantage of Leerdam’s misplaced back pass.

An excepted win for Vitesse and striker Pedersen will look to provide the goals to fire them up the league as a replacement for last year’s league top scorer Bony.

PEC ZWOLLE 2-1 FEYENOORD

Ron Jans made a dream start to the season on his return to Zwolle clinching a deserved 2-1 win over Ronald Koeman’s Feyenoord. His side turned in a nightmare performance and two Zwolle players especially came back to haunt Koeman.

Zwolle finished in a very creditable 11th place in their first year back in the top flight of Dutch football last year and their results in pre-season have been excellent. Former Heerenveen boss Jans has led his new club to five friendly victories out of five and that includes a 3-2 win over Werder Bremen and a 5-1 hammering of Ross County last time.

Striker Fred Benson and Kamohelo Mokotjo, the latter signed on a free from Feyenoord this summer, were a thorn in the side to Stefan De Vrij and Bruno Martins Indi in the centre of the Rotterdam defence.

The IJsseldelta Stadion crowd were loud throughout but they nearly broke the decibel record in Zwolle on 66 minutes. Highly-rated 20-year-old midfielder Jesper Drost delivered a perfect cross for Mateusz Klich to head past Erwin Mulder to give Zwolle the lead and send the spectators into rapture.

It was what Zwolle deserved, but Feyenoord equalised five minutes later, which displayed some poor defending by the home side. Defender De Vrij was all alone of the edge of the area and volleyed a shot towards goal, it was going wide so Ruben Schaken nodded it on target into the goal to level the game up.

Zwolle kept their heads up and substitute Guyon Fernandez, on-loan from Feyenoord, popped up with a goal deep into injury time to send his parent club away with nothing.

Koeman has two problems, clearly visible after the first ninety minutes of the campaign. His team is too reliant on Italian target man Graziano Pelle (who had a poor game today), and Feyenoord are already three points behind title rivals Ajax and PSV after just one round of matches. Feyenoord finished in third place last time and it’s now 14 years since they last won the Eredivisie title, so they better improve quickly or their fans could be feeling the disappointment for a 15th year in a row.

STANDINGS

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE REPORT: Saturday 3rd August 2013

August 3, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

WEEK 1 – Saturday 3rd August 2013

As usual in the Dutch top flight, it’s a case of goals, goals, goals on Saturday evening. Two games had five goals exchanged and Heerenveen vs. AZ Alkmaar had six, but as one extreme to the other, FC Twente and RKC Waalwijk failed to find a goal in their match.

ADO DEN HAAG 2-3 PSV

The Cocu Revolution made a great start to their title challenge with a 3-2 away victory over ADO Den Haag. PSV took a 3-0 lead thanks to Georginio Wijnaldum, a Danny Holla own goal and Jetro Willems within the opening 35 minutes. However Holla pulled one back on the stroke of half-time for the home side and young striker Mike Van Duinen reduced the deficit deep into injury time.

Nineteen-year-old forward Jurgen Locadia had an excellent chance to score in the opening minute but was thwarted by goalkeeper Gino Coutinho. PSV ‘keeper Jeroen Zoet was called into action for the first time in the 11th minute as he palmed away a long-range effort from Jerson Cabral.

A minute later and the visitors took the lead, new signing Stijn Schaars played in Wijnaldum and the captain slotted home at the far post.

Wijnaldum came very close to doubling the lead on 17 minutes with young prodigy Memphis Depay setting up Wijnaldum, he first touch was sublime, but his shot was subpar as the ball crept agonisingly wide of the post.

ADO had their chances too, as Cabral fired an effort on target but had his shot nodded away by Jeffrey Bruma.

PSV extended their lead in the 27th minute through an unlucky own goal by Holla. The defender tried to clear a long ball from Wijnaldum, but his looping header beat Coutinho.

Cocu’s young side, with five teenagers in the starting eleven, looked to have settled the match six minutes later. Left-back Willems wrong footed three defenders before blasting home.

PSV did not let up, and a minute later, looked for a fourth and the left-wing menace Depay looked likely to score, as he cut into the box and rounded two defenders but he sent his shot wide.

PSV sat back to protect the third goal lead but as it invited ADO on to the attack, they found a goal before half-time. Danny Holla making amends for his mistake by firing Ninos Gouriye’s dangerous cross past Zoet.

Diciating the tempo, PSV slowed down the pace of the game, with the home side enjoying the bulk of possession. Chances went begging when Wijnaldum headed Zakaria Bakkali’s free-kick over the bar and Locadia just could not connect with Depay´s cross. While ADO striker Van Duinen headed well wide over the bar in the 68th minute.

Van Duinen handed Den Haag a lifeline in second-half stoppage time, capitalising on a defensive slip but PSV held on to take all three points.

HIGHLIGHTS

NEC 1-4 FC GRONINGEN

FC Groningen also made a winning start to their campaign defeating NEC by four goals to one at the Goffertstadion on Saturday evening, a margin of goals that makes them top the table as of time of writing.

Both NEC and Groningen were quite active this summer in the transfer market, capturing six new players. As Groningen signed known Eredivisie experience in Tjaronn Chery, Eric Botteghin and Nick van der Velden, NEC mostly signed players without Dutch top flight familiarity.

It was obvious last season that NEC could use some fresh blood in as coach Alex Pastoor stated at the start of the campaign that him aim was to guide the team the Europa League playoffs but in the last twelve games were only four points were collected, three of them against the relegated Willem II.

Groningen came flying out of the blocks and one of the new boys, Chery scored the opening goal after just ten minutes of play. Kalle Johnson, last season’s NEC third choice goalkeeper, was responsible for the goal. Filip Kostic’s shot from the edge of the area, changed direction, but the weak save from Johnson led Chery to grab his first goal for the club on his debut.

It was 2-0 on 27 minutes and again Chery was involved. He placed a through ball to Andraz Kirm and the Slovenian outwitted Johnson to double the lead.

The two goal advantage put the visitors in the driving seat with Navarone Foor replying for the hosts before the half-time whistle.

Howver, second-half strikes from David Texeira, on 54 minutes and a late Richairo Zivkovic goal put the result beyond doubt.

FC TWENTE 0-0 RKC WAALWIJK

After losing top stars, Nader Chadli and Leroy Fer, FC Twente looked toothless and clueless in their opener against a RKC Waalwijk side which they should be quite capable of defeating. Instead it was a poor game and neither side could find a goal.

Even RKC has made some major changes in their playing staff, coach Erwin Koeman had to say goodbye to Jeroen Zoet, Cuco Martina, Henrico Drost, Guy Ramos and Ard van Peppen. Hardly any replacements of the calibre of the players that have departed have came in, and even after the Florian Jozefzoon’s transfer to PSV, there was not much money for new players.

The hosts did have their chances to win the match, especially through Willem Janssen and Luc Castaignos but the new RKC goalkeeper Jan Seda, had an excellent game and kept their best efforts out.

HEERENVEEN 4-2 AZ ALKMAAR

Heerenveen and AZ shared six goals in a high tempo match at a packed Abe Lenstra Stadion. Marco van Basten’s side showed that the administrative problems at the club have no impact on the performance on the field.

AZ had the best chance inside the first ten minutes when Swedish midfielder Viktor Elm found himself unmarked in the area and fired from close range straight at his compatriot Kristoffer Nordfeldt.

Heerenveen looked a different side to last year, with the high pressure and tenacity winning balls back deep into the opposition half. They grabbed the lead after 22 minutes when a penalty was awarded after a handball from Jan Wuytens inside the box. Icelandic hot shot Alfred Finnbogason made no mistake with the spot-kick, powering the shot into the right corner past Esteban Alvarado.

AZ were close to equalising minutes later but Nemanja Gudelj’s header from a corner clipped the crossbar and went over.

The visitors did grab the leveller, five minutes after the internal, with a tremendous solo effort from right-back Mattias Johansson. The Swede surged up the pitch with the ball stuck to his feet, played a lovely one-two inside the area with Aron Jóhannsson, and smashed it home.

The teams were only level pegging for just less than four minutes as Finnbogason clinched his second of the game. It was a poacher’s goal by the Iceland international, tapping home from a save from a lashing shot from Pele van Anholt.

Two minutes later, Van Anholt also got on the scoresheet as Heerenveen extended their lead to 3-1. The defender, who loves to get forward, arrived into the box as Finnbogason was doing some great play on the left of the area. The Icelandic squared the ball for Van Anholt to side-foot home with a neat finish.

The goals quietened down but the action did not, the hosts were reduced to ten-men after on-loan defender Mitchell Dijks was shown his marching orders for a strong but late challenge on Steven Berghuis. Luckily the striker was not seriously injured and continued the match.

AZ were given a chance to get back into the game when Rajiv van La Parra was deemed to have handle the ball in the area. The newly stated American international Jóhannsson converted perfectly hitting the inside of the left post on the way in.

The scoring had not been completed with the Van Basten’s boys when Van La Parra hit a superb curling effort from just outside the area to complete a 4-2 victory for Heerenveen.

HIGHLIGHTS

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE REPORT: Friday 2nd August 2013

August 2, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

WEEK 1 – Friday 2nd August 2013

Friday night and champions Ajax started the crusade on the hunt for their fourth successive title with a 3-0 victory over relegation contenders Roda JC at the Amsterdam ArenA, even though they did have quite a bit of luck.

AJAX 3-0 RODA JC

In an exciting beginning to the game, Ajax burst out the blocks much to delight of the Amsterdam crowd, and Frank de Boer’s side were nearly a goal ahead inside the first seven minutes. Danish playmaker Christian Eriksen crashed a free-kick on the edge of the box onto the crossbar of Filip Kurto’s goal, but a few minutes after that, the hosts were ahead.

Another free-kick, but this time Eriksen whipped the ball in from the left-hand side that deceived everyone in the box. Kurto used his reflexes to divert the ball with his foot, but the ball rebounded off full-back Ricardo Van Rhijn’s shins and into the goal. An unfortunate goal for Roda to concede.

Ajax dominated and captain Siem de Jong doubled the lead on 31 minutes. Again, the Dane Eriksen was involved, he placed an ideal through ball with found De Jong inside the box, who kept his composure to coolly slot the ball home.

With the trio of De Jong, Viktor Fischer and debutant Bojan as Ajax’s attacking threat, Roda failed to find much of the ball out of their own half and Ajax should have put the game to bed. Bojan had a genuine claim for a spotkick at the start of the second-half when he found his way into the box only to be clearly fouled by Ard van Peppen, but the referee waved away his appeals.

On the hour mark, as Ajax tired, Roda began to see a lot more of the ball and were close to getting back into it when winger Guus Hupperts placed a shot onto the post.

On 70 minutes, Daley Blind was caught pulling on Krisztián Németh’s shirt and referee Danny Makkelie pointed to the spot. The away supporters were on their feet in delight but Wiljan Pluim blazed the resulting kick over Kenneth Vermeer’s crossbar. It is extraordinary that Pluim’s effort is now the fifth consecutive penalty that has been missed by opponents of Ajax.

The icing on the cake was on 83 minutes when Ajax cemented the points with their third goal. The new number 7 for the Amsterdammers, Viktor Fischer with a deft chip after Lasse Schone had forced Kurto into yet another save and De Jong hit the post with the rebound.

Ajax win and sit top of the league, while Roda JC linger at the bottom and regret the penalty miss that could have possibly changed the scoreline.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE 2013/14 Season Preview

July 31, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

The 2013/14 Eredivisie campaign is ready to kick-off this Friday night with reigning champions Ajax beginning the defence of their league championship hosting Roda JC at the Amsterdam Arena. As per usual, the Dutch summer has seen the influx of richer clubs across Europe pilfering some of the best young talents from the league.

After signing a new contract extending his stay in Amsterdam until 2016, coach Frank de Boer heads into the new season looking to gain the fourth successive Eredivisie shield with some minimal changes. Veteran striker Ryan Babel has been shipped out to Turkey with Kasimpasa but other than that, no great losses in the title-winning squad. Out-of-favour Serbian midfielder Miralem Sulejmani has left for Benfica and fringe full-back Mitchell Dijks has been loaned to Marco van Basten’s Heerenveen for a season.

Arriving is the highly-rated striker, Bojan Krkic from Barcelona. After successful loan spells in Serie A with AC Milan and AS Roma, the 22-year-old starlet will look to take the Dutch league by storm. Joining him will be Jong Oranje central defender Mike van der Hoorn, 20 from FC Utrecht. Last season was Van der Hoorn’s breakthrough year in Utrecht, playing 44 league matches and scoring six goals.

It has been a case of all-change in Eindhoven with new head coach Philip Cocu starting a revolution of sorts at PSV, selling off many of the underperforming squad from last term and building his own team to challenge for the title this year. Out goes many of the players from the first team including the retiring captain Mark van Bommel. Two huge losses, but gained huge fees for the club are Dries Mertens and Kevin Strootman, who both head to Serie A to progress their careers. Also leaving the Phillips Stadion are: Erik Pieters, Jeremain Lens, Orlando Engelaar, Atiba Hutchinson, Wilfried Bouma and Boy Waterman. After the clear out, Cocu has looked to youth to start a crusade for trophies.

The new boss made a real statement stealing the signing of Adam Maher from under Ajax’s noses. Maher arrives after torturing his new club in the KNVB Beker final on 9th May this year, and his old club AZ Alkmaar ended running out 2-1 winners that day. PSV have never had the problem of unable to score goals but Cocu has bolstered his attacking options with the ultra fast winger Florian Jozefzoon arriving from RKC Waalwijk, and former PSV favourite Ji-Park Sung is due to be borrowed from Queens Park Rangers by the end of the week. However, most importantly, the defence has been strengthened by bringing in Jeffrey Bruma from Chelsea and loaning Karim Rekik from Manchester City. In the absence of Marc van Bommel, Cocu will look to Stijn Schaars to control play, win the ball then provide Maher, Georginio Wijnaldum or young prodigy Memphis Depay with chances on goal. Schaars joined from Sporting Lisbon for a combined €1.6millon fee long with 21-year-old Colombian right-back Santiago Arias.

In my opinion, I cannot decide on whether Ajax or PSV will win the title this year, but I am confident that these two teams will be the only two in the title race. However, Feyenoord are still a strong team and will look once again to the goals of Italian hitman Graziano Pelle to fire them up the league. Being able to persuade Jordy Clasie and Stefan de Vrij to sign new contract extensions was the major success of the summer for the Rotterdam club, but coach Ronald Koeman has not been able to add any new players to his squad.

Vitesse Arnhem, under the new leadership of Peter Bosz, have been heavily depleted losing their two biggest stars of last season Marco van Ginkel to Chelsea and Wilfried Bony to Swansea City of the Premier League. Right side defender/midfielder Kelvin Leerdam arrives from Feyenoord and Marko Vejinovic joins from Heracles Almelo as a free agent. Obviously, these two new signings will be hard pressed to replace the superstars that have moved on but with Gael Kakuta and Patrick van Aanholt returning on-loan from Chelsea, they will aim for a Europa League place. Norwegian target man Marcus Pedersen returns from a loan spell in Denmark with Odense, after having an impressive Under-21 European Championships with his home country.

FC Twente, like Vitesse, have cashed in on talent, with Nacer Chadli and Leroy Fer also heading to England, with Tottenham and Norwich respectively and contract-rebel Douglas finally departing for Dinamo Moscow. Twente are still looking to be active in the market until the window shuts but they have brought in defensive cover with Dico Koppers from Ajax, and midfielder creativity with Kyle Ebecilio arriving permanently from Arsenal.

Although losing Maher, the KNVB Beker winners AZ Alkmaar fared well this past weekend in their Johan Cruijff Schaal showdown with champions Ajax, narrowly losing 3-2 after extra time. The highly-rated central defender Jeffrey Gouweleeuw joins from Heerenveen and Serbian playmaker Nemanja Gudelj will look to replace the creativity of Maher in the side. AZ can fall into the category that could also press for Europe again this term.

FC Utrecht look in bad shape after their embarrassing two-legged Europa League qualifier defeat to Differdange of Luxembourg last week. Joining on-loan from PSV, Belgian centre-back Timothy Derijck will try to fill the gap that Van der Hoorn has left in defence. Coach Jan Wouters has managed to persuade midfield star Jens Toornstra to stay at the club for now, with PSV sniffing around earlier this summer.

FC Groningen, ADO Den Haag, Heracles Almelo and SC Heerenveen will be trying to achieve more than mid-table obscurity this year round. Groningen lost first-choice defender Virgil van Dijk to Scottish champions Celtic and top winger Leandro Bacuna to Aston Villa, but they have used the cash wisely to all-round strengthen their squad. Coming in are young Hungarian striker Krisztián Adorján from Liverpool, speedy winger Tjaronn Chery from ADO. Defensive trio Eric Botteghin, William Troost-Ekong and Giliano Wijnaldum, from NAC Breda, Tottenham Hotspur and AZ respectively, arrive to fill the hole left by Van Dijk. Nick van der Velden joined on a free from NEC to add some bite to the midfield.

ADO brought in free agents Michiel Kramer, Ninos Gouriye and Ricky van Haaren but looking at the squad they lack a few players to push themselves up the league. Even though, Kramer scored 22 goals in 32 appearances for Eerste Divisie side FC Volendam last year, I find it hard for him to make an impact in the top flight.

Lack of funds in Almelo meant Heracles also dipped in the free agency to improve their squad including adding Ghanaian midfielder Matthew Amoah from Heerenveen earlier this week. Creative attacking midfielder Bryan Linssen arrives from VVV Venlo and is tipped to excel this season and may use the Heraclieden as a stepping stone to bigger things next season. Heracles lost Brazilian veteran striker Everton to Saudi team Al-Nassr and Vejinovic which will majorly hamper their chances of reaching great heights.

Marco Van Basten’s Heerenveen look to have the best opportunity to break through this term, especially after they clinched the signing of Magnus Wolff Eikrem from Molde. After the departures of Gouweleeuw (to AZ) and Filip Djuridic to Benfica, Van Basten excited the fans with the signature of the Norwegian midfielder, who was highly-rated back in his homeland and should suit the Eredivisie well. Winger Yanit Wildschut also joined from relegated VVV, and will add pace to the attack that has (so far) kept onto highly-sought Icelandic hitman Alfred Finnbogasson. In defence, Mitchell Dijks has been loaned from Ajax to gain some much needed first-team experience.

The new boys in the league this season are SC Cambuur and Go Ahead Eagles, like PEC Zwolle this time last year, they are heavily tipped to go straight back down. Zwolle defied the odds last term and finished a respectable 11th and six points clear of relegation trouble. Cambuur and Eagles will be aiming to emulate them and steer away from the Eerste Divisie. Also trying to avoid relegation will be NAC Breda, RKC Waalwijk, NEC Nijmegen and Roda JC.

Zwolle’s manager last year, Art Langeler has left to coach the youth team of PSV so he has been replaced by Ron Jans. Jans brought in Feyenoord pair Guyon Fernandez (on-loan) and Kamohelo Mokotjo (free) to try and improve on their unexpected great position last year.

CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS

TEAM	BEST PRICE	BOOKIE
AJAX	5/4	Paddy Power
PSV	12/5	Coral
FEYENOORD	8/1	BetVictor
FC TWENTE	16/1	Bet365
AZ ALKMAAR	20/1	Bet365
VITESSE	28/1	Betway
FC UTRECHT	33/1	Betfair
HEERENVEEN	50/1	Bet365
FC GRONINGEN	100/1	BetVictor
ADO DEN HAAG	200/1	William Hill
HERACLES	250/1	Sky Bet
PEC ZWOLLE	250/1	Paddy Power
NAC BREDA	500/1	Bet Victor
RKC WAALWIJK	750/1	William Hill
NEC NIJMEGEN	1000/1	William Hill
RODA JC	1250/1	Coral
SC CAMBUUR	2000/1	William Hill
GO AHEAD EAGLES	2500/1	William Hill

RELEGATION ODDS

TEAM	BEST PRICE	BOOKIE
GO AHEAD EAGLES	1/3	BetVictor
SC CAMBUUR	1/2	BetVictor
NAC BREDA	9/4	BetVictor
NEC NIJMEGEN	9/4	BetVictor
RODA JC	9/4	BetVictor
RKC WAALWIJK	9/4	BetVictor
HERACLES	3/1	BetVictor
PEC ZWOLLE	7/2	BetVictor
ADO DEN HAAG	14/1	BetVictor
FC GRONINGEN	25/1	BetVictor
HEERENVEEN	33/1	BetVictor
FC UTRECHT	66/1	BetVictor
VITESSE	100/1	BetVictor
AZ ALKMAAR	150/1	BetVictor
FC TWENTE	200/1	BetVictor
FEYENOORD	250/1	BetVictor
PSV	500/1	BetVictor
AJAX	1000/1	BetVictor

MY PREDICTIONS

Top Three: 1. AJAX/PSV

3. FEYENOORD

Top Goalscorer: GRAZIANO PELLE (FEYENOORD)

Breakthrough Star: MEMPHIS DEPAY (PSV)

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