Category Archives: EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE: ADO Den Haag 1-1 Go Ahead Eagles

September 21, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

SATURDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER 2014

ADO DEN HAAG 1 – 1 GO AHEAD EAGLES

ADO coach Henk Fraser was left fuming after seeing his side miss many chances to scrape a 1-1 draw at home to Go Ahead Eagles on Saturday writes Will Burns.

ADO started the brighter of the two sides with midfielder Kevin Jansen slotting the ball home after just six minutes but was deemed offside by the referee’s assistant.

It was a quiet first half and young substitute Teije ten Den arrived on the pitch for Jules Reimerink just before the hour mark for the Eagles of Deventer and got involved straight away. On the hour we saw the first goal when summer signing Timothy Derijck, from PSV Eindhoven, headed into his own net under pressure from Ten Den.

The hosts surged on for the equaliser and Go Ahead called upon Eric Cummins to save them many times over but with five minutes remaining the score was level. The big keeper rushed out to claim a cross but Michiel Kramer was unmarked to poke home after the ball crashed off the crossbar.

After the game, ADO coach Fraser stated he expected to win this game and expects much better from his side next weekend at home to AZ Alkmaar.

TEAMS

ADO: Hansen, Zuiverloon, Derijck, Kanon, Meijers, Malone (Alberg 23), Kristensen, Jansen (Bakker 75), Schet (Houtkoop 62), Kramer, Van Duinen.

SUBS NOT USED: Zwinkels, Ebuehi, Owobowale, Merencia.

GOALS: Kramer 84.

BOOKINGS: Kanon 81.

GO AHEAD: Cummins, Nieuwpoort, Schenk, Van der Linden, Wijnaldum, Van Ooijen (Lambooij 63), Overgoor, Duits (De Bondt 79), Rijsdijk, Lewis, Reimerink (Ten Den 57).

SUBS NOT USED: Van der Hart, Amevor, Van der Meer, Postma.

GOALS: Derijck 60OG.

BOOKINGS: Duits 27.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Thomas Kristensen (ADO)

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EREDIVISIE: Excelsior 1-1 FC Dordrecht

September 21, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

SATURDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER 2014

EXCELSIOR 1 – 1 FC DORDRECHT

Excelsior and Dordrecht ended the game level on Saturday evening in a 1-1 draw, however it was a poor night for the visitors losing captain Funso Ojo to injury with Giovanni Korte also hurt that will keep the striker out for some time writes Will Burns.

After Tom van Weert saw an effort hit the woodwork on 12 minutes, the opening 45 did not provide much action expect for aforementioned injuries. Belgian midfielder Funso Ojo was substituted for new signing Ryan Koolwijk for the visitors on 41 minutes with a calf strain while striker Giovanni Korte was taken off with a suspected broken leg.

Shortly after the restart, Excelsior midfielder Adil Auassar scored a goal of the week contender. The 27-year old, who was born and started his career at Dordrecht, cut inside from the right to curl a perfect shot past the helpless Filip Kurto.

The Rotterdam side held on until five minutes to go when the visitors grabbed the all important equaliser with 20-year old German midfielder Robin Gosens nodding home the levelling goal past Excelsior’s debutant goalkeeper Gino Coutinho.

The hosts went down to ten-men when summer signing Luigi Bruins was shown a straight red from referee Pieter Vink after clashing with Marvin Peersman. Replays showed that the sending off was harsh as Peersman went down easy after Bruins lead in with his head with minimal contact.

TEAMS

EXCELSIOR: Coutinho, Karami, Fischer, Van Diermen, Kuipers, Kruys (Mattheij 73), Stans (Bruins 68), Auassar, Botaka, Van Weert (Gouriye 68), Van Mieghem

SUBS NOT USED: None.

GOALS: Auassar 51.

BOOKINGS: None.

SENT OFF: Bruins 88.

DORDRECHT: Kurto, Fortes, Lima, Troost-Ekong, Peersman, Ojo (Koolwijk 41), Gosens, Van Overeem, Korte (Pisas 47), Lieder (Hamdaoui 80), Ten Voorde.

SUBS NOT USED: None.

GOALS: Gosens 85.

BOOKINGS: None.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Adil Auassar (Excelsior)

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EREDIVISIE: Willem II 2-1 NAC Breda

September 20, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

FRIDAY 19TH SEPTEMBER 2014

WILLEM II 2 – 1 NAC BREDA

Willem II clinched a late 2-1 win over NAC Breda on Friday night through a 91st minutes Robert Braber winner writes Will Burns.

Former Chelsea youth striker Ben Sahar put the hosts ahead after beating the offside trap collecting Stijn Wuytens through ball to nutmeg NAC keeper Jelle ten Rouwelaar early on.

After claiming victories in their last two games, NAC grabbed an equaliser three minutes before the interval when Uros Matic hit a low drive past Kostas Lamprou from 25 yards.

The hosts pressed for a winner but it looked likely that they would have to settle for a point however, Robert Braber provided the late drama to lift Jurgen Streppel’s men into the top half of the division. Braber, a summer signing from relegated RKC Waalwijk, finished well after great hold up play from substitute Bruno Andrade.

TEAMS

WILLEM II: Lamprou, Van der Struijk, D. Wuytens, Peters, Dijks (Heymans 72), Haemhouts, Braber, S. Wuytens, Cabral (Vicento 84), Sahar, Armenteros (Bruno Andrade 69).

SUBS NOT USED: Meul, Heerkens, Messaoud, De Brito, Ippel.

GOALS: Sahar 13, Braber 90+1.

BOOKINGS: None.

NAC: Ten Rouwelaar, Ssewankambo, Drost, Damcevski, Amieux, Falkenburg, De Kamps, Matic, Boateng (Sarpong 80), Perica, Tighadouini (Seuntjens 73).

SUBS NOT USED: Babos, De Roover, Suk, Robinson, Van der Weg.

GOALS: Matic 42.

BOOKINGS: De Kamps 77, Ten Rouwelaar 90+2, Perica 90+5.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Uros Matic (NAC Breda)

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EREDIVISIE: SC Cambuur 3-0 FC Groningen

September 14, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

SUNDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER 2014

SC CAMBUUR 3 – 0 FC GRONINGEN

Cambuur cruise to a 3-0 win with commanding performance that could have been even better had they not been so wasteful in the final third. The result brings Groningen back down to earth after their recent victory against the Dutch Champions, Ajax writes Ryan O’Grady.

Fifth played sixth in this meeting of two in-form sides. Cambuur had yet to lose in the Eredivisie sitting on 8 points whilst Groningen were sitting one place higher in 5th having won 3 games, including a famous victory last week against Ajax, and one defeat to Ado Den Haag. The away side were unchanged from their victory against the Dutch Champions with former Ajax player Danny Hoesen starting up front in a 4-3-3 formation. Despite winning 3-2 against Ado Den Haag before the international break, Henk de Jong decided to replace two of his front three with Dejan Meleg and Michiel Hemmen being replaced by Daniel de Ridder and Martijn Barto.

Cambuur were clearly the better team in both halves, they dominated possession with 62% for the whole game and had 4 shots on target compared to Groningen’s one. The home side also had the first decent chance when Bartholomew Ogbeche made a decent run before passing the ball to Albert Rusnák who ran into the box and released a shot straight at the keeper. Groningen best chance for a goal came not long after in the 5th minute when the ball came to Tjaronn Chery and he span and hit the ball first time but it was just wide. Cambuur then came back in the 12th minute when a cross from just outside the box found Ogbeche at the back post but his header was straight at the keeper. Although Cambuur were dominating they were extremely wasteful in the final third and as a result there were no clear cut chances for the rest of the first half.

The second half was much more entertaining for the fans as only 40 seconds in Cambuur had a penalty appeal, Ogbeche received the ball inside the box but his touched bounced up and hit Maikel Kieftenbeld in the arm but the referee deemed it not worthy of a penalty despite protestations from the Cambuur players. Cambuur midfielder Mohamed El Makrini then suffered a nasty looking injury in the 48th minute when he challenged Jarchinio Antonia for the ball, Antonia got there first and attempted to hurdle the oncoming El Makrini but he accidentally landed on El Makrini’s face but the Cambuur midfielder was able to carry on.

Only three minutes later Cambuur scored, it again was a result of a sloppy ball in the final third as the ball was meant for Erik Bakker but it was behind him allowing Rusnák to follow up and score with a lovely finish into the bottom corner to put Cambuur 1-0 up. Rusnák had another chance two minutes later to double his tally from a tight angle but he hit the side netting when he probably should’ve played the ball across the six-yard box. This was followed by a flurry of yellow cards when Rusnák was fouled twice in quick succession causing a commotion which resulted in the booking of four Groningen players in two minutes. One player to be booked was Rasmus Lindgren and he was sent off in the 61st minute after picking up a second yellow for tripping Daniel de Ridder who was en-route to goal.

In the 73rd minute Cambuur doubled their lead after Groningen captain Kieftenbeld lost the ball about 30 yards from goal to Etiënne Reijnen who passed to Ogbeche on the edge of the box and he unleashed a curled effort into the top left corner leaving keeper Sergio Padt with no chance. Groningen manager Erwin van de Looi won’t be happy with Eric Botteghin because when Ogbeche received the ball he kept backing off allowing him the space and time to get his shot away.

Botteghin somewhat made up for his mistake six minutes later when substitute Furdjel Narsingh cut inside the box from the right wing before shooting past the keeper only for Botteghin to clear it. This only prolonged the wait for a third goal by two minutes when El Makrini ran down the right wing before crossing in for an unmarked substitute Sander van de Streek who finished well with a fine header. The substitute then had a chance to double his tally in the 91st minute when he hit the post with a sliding effort following another decent cross from the right hand side.

TEAMS

CAMBUUR: Nienhuis, Reijnen, Andriuškevičius, Pereira, Bijker, Rusnák (Narsingh 67), De Ridder (Van de Streek 75), Ogbeche, Barto (Meleg 84).

SUBS NOT USED: Zeinstra, Mac-Intosch, Schet, Meleg, Dijkstra.

GOALS: Rusnák 51, Ogbeche 73, Van de Streek 80.

BOOKINGS: Andriuškevičius 78.

GRONINGEN: Padt, Botteghin, Kappelhof, Lindgren, Van der Velden (De Leeuw 46), Hiariej, Chery, Kieftenbeld, van Nieff, Hoesen, Antonia.

SUBS NOT USED: Van der Vlag, Islamovic, Hagenauw, Saban, Hateboer, Baas.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Hiariej 56, Kieftenbeld 56, Lindgren 57, Antonia 57.

SENT OFF: Lindgren 62.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Etiënne Reijnen (SC Cambuur)

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EREDIVISIE: PEC Zwolle 3-1 PSV

September 14, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

SATURDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER 2014

PEC ZWOLLE 3 – 1 PSV

The underdogs of Zwolle have bitten another big dog and sent them away with their tails between their legs. This time it was the turn of Philip Cocu’s PSV to take home a 3-1 defeat to the hands of Ron Jans’ men after they lost superstar Memphis Depay to an early injury writes Will Burns.

Zwolle started debutant Warner Hahn in goal after the sale of Diederik Boer to Ajax on deadline day but it was his opposite number Jeroen Zoet was called into action first pulling off a save from the lively Jody Lukoki. Hahn’s gloves were warmed up minutes later as Depay fired a trademark free-kick at the young stopper. Depay, scorer of five goals in his last four Eredivisie games, did not last on the pitch much longer as he was struggling with a thigh problem and was replaced by striker Jurgen Locadia.

PSV were stupidly given a penalty kick by Joost Broerse after clearly handballing in the area from a corner kick. Luuk de Jong fired the ball straight down the middle to give PSV the lead and score his second goal of the campaign.

However, just before half-time the home side were given an equaliser by Zoet as Jesper Drost’s drive from the edge of the area was palmed in by the keeper. A shocking error that lifted the IJsseldelta Stadion as Zwolle surged on for a second, Cocu was desperate to hear Danny Makkelie’s half-time whistle.

Just after the hour-mark, tricky winger Ryan Thomas earned a free-kick after half-time substitute Oskar Hiljemark bundled him over around 30 yards out. The home fans clapped in unison as Broerse set-up the free-kick like a pole-vaulter at the Olympic Games. The 34-year-old defender smashed home a beauty to make it 2-1 and to earn redemption off the delighted Zwolle supporters for his earlier handball.

Ben Rienstra capped the night off after surging into the area, overpowering Hiljemark and chipping a wonderful effort over Zoet to cement the points late on.

Zwolle once again show tremendous character to win an important game inside a big atmosphere as PSV will now worry how long Depay will be missing from this team who are ready to mount a serious challenge for the league championship.

TEAMS

ZWOLLE: Hahn, Van Polen, Sainsbury, Broerse, Van Hintum, Rienstra, Lam (Van der Werff 90), Lukoki (Saymak 75), Drost, Thomas (Nijland 69), Necid.

SUBS NOT USED: De Jong, Ioannidis, Dekker, Moro.

GOALS: Drost 41, Broerse 65, Rienstra 87.

BOOKINGS: Broerse 32, Lam 62.

PSV: Zoet, Brenet, Rekik, Bruma, Willems (Jozefzoon 86), Guardado, Wijnaldum, Maher (Hiljemark 46), Narsingh, De Jong, Depay (Locadia 18).

SUBS NOT USED: Pasveer, Isimat-Mirin, Brenet, Hendrix.

GOALS: De Jong 32P.

BOOKINGS: Hiljemark 64, Bruma 90.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Joost Broerse (PEC Zwolle)

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EREDIVISIE: Feyenoord 1-2 Willem II

September 14, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

SATURDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER 2014

FEYENOORD 1 – 2 WILLEM II

It was an historic night in Rotterdam as Willem II recorded their first away win in the Eredivisie since December 2009. A Samuel Armenteros inspired performance guided the away side to a surprise away victory against struggling Feyenoord. Feyenoord opted to rest their star player Jordy Clasie as they perhaps had one eye on Thursday’s Europa League clash against Sevilla writes Simon Prue.

Feyenoord dominated possession in the early stages of the match but failed to create any clear cut chances. Willem II’s defence looked shaky in the opening 10 minutes, however, it did not matter as a wonderful counter attacking move in the 8^th minute saw Frank van der Struijk give Willem II the lead. Armenteros broke away down the left hand side with pace before his deflected cross fell perfectly for van der Struijk to volley home with conviction.

Feyenoord’s best opportunity in the opening 20 minutes of the match came as a result of former Middlebrough man Luke Wilkshire whose free kick was directed straight into the arms of Willem II’s keeper Kostas Lamprou, currently on loan from the Rotterdammers.

Willem II continued to soak up Feyenoord’s pressure and were rewarded for their discipline as they caught Feyenoord on the counter attack once more and doubled their lead in the 23^rd minute through star man Samuel Armenteros. Ondaan skillfully passed Kongolo down the right hand side before pulling the ball back superbly into the path of Armenteros who guided the ball expertly into the roof of the net.

The hosts began to get a grip of themselves and started to threaten Willem II’s increasingly stubborn defence. Dries Wuytens made a crucial recovery tackle to deny Schaken a clear goal scoring opportunity before Te Vrede could only glance his header wide of the post from close range. After Kongolo saw a strong penalty appeal waved away, Feyenoord created their best chance of the game as Lex Immers latched onto a loose ball just inside the 18 yard box but he could only screw his shot horribly wide of Lamprou’s right hand post.

Feyenoord introduced Jens Toornstra and Elvis Manu at the break but there was no change in the pattern of play. Willem II looked to sit back and Feyenoord couldn’t find a way through the opposition’s defence. Kongolo summed up the hosts’ frustration and anxiety as he was cautioned for a reckless challenge from behind on Terell Ondaan.

Just after the hour mark, Luke Wilkshire delivered another good cross towards the near post and Manu should have done better with the opportunity as his header went straight into the hands of Lamprou.

In the 75^th minute Luke Wilshire’s teasing crosses were finally rewarded as Colin Kazim Richards leaped above his marker and flicked the ball into the top corner. Kazim Richards almost doubled his tally moments later with an impressive acrobatic scissor kick that flew past the stationary Lamprou but also past the post.

Two great chances for Feyenoord followed. Firstly, Manu went on a mazy run into the penalty area turning van der Struijk inside out but his shot was once again well saved by Lamprou. In the 89^th minute tricky winger Ruben Schaken floated in a cross that was cleared into the path of Toornstra whose powerful volley crashed against the post.

Samuel Armenteros had a wonderful chance to get his second goal of the game deep into injury time but his lobbed effort landed on the roof of the net.

TEAMS

FEYENOORD: Vermeer, Wilkshire, Van Beek, Mathijsen (Manu 46), Kongolo, El Ahmadi, Immers, Vilhena, Schaken, Te Vrede (Kazim-Richards 63), Boëtius (Toornstra 46).

SUBS NOT USED: Mulder, Nelom, Karsdorp, Basaçikoglu.

GOALS: Kazim-Richards 78.

BOOKINGS: Kongolo 51.

WILLEM II: Lamprou, Dijks (Heerkens 80), Peters, D. Wuytens, Van der Struijk, S. Wuytens, Haemhouts (Ippel 56), Braber, Ondaan (Sporkslede 71), Armenteros, Saher.

SUBS NOT USED: Meul, Cabral, Vleugels, Vicento.

GOALS: Van der Struijk 8, Armenteros 23.

BOOKINGS: Peters 90+2.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Samuel Armenteros (Willem II)

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EREDIVISIE: AZ Alkmaar 0-1 Heerenveen

September 14, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

SATURDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER 2014

AZ ALKMAAR 0 – 1 HEERENVEEN

AZ played host to coach Marco van Basten’s former club Heerenveen on Saturday with the Dutchman still unavailable on the touchline due to illness. Alex Pastoor once again barked out the orders as they fell to a 1-0 defeat writes Will Burns.

It was the first time that the home AZ fans inside the AFAS Stadion got to see summer signing Sergio Rochet and he impressed early on. The 21-year-old Uruguayan goalkeeper, arrived from Danubio in May, stopped early efforts from Mark Uth and Jordy Buijs inside a busy first half but seven minutes before the interval, his goal was breached.

Young midfielder Daley Sinkgraven has had a great and impressive start to the 2014/15 campaign and he was on hand to make it 1-0 after poor defending from AZ. Morten Thorsby found some space down the left-wing to find Uth on the edge of the area. Uth lost to the ball to Jeffrey Gouweleeuw who could not direct his clearance out of the path of Sinkgraven who hit a first time shot past Rochet, giving the young keeper no chance.

AZ barely threatened Kristoffer Nordfeldt at the other end but on 55 minutes they should have maybe had a spot kick awarded after Joost van Aken made a clumsy challenge in the area on Derrick Luckassen. Referee Bas Nijhuis waved away any appeals and Heerenveen rode the game out for the win that places them in second place, two points behind PSV.

TEAMS

AZ: Rochet, Luckassen (Elm 73), Gouweleeuw, Wuytens (Haps 54), Poulsen, Ortiz, Hupperts, Gudelj, Haye, Tankovic, Mühren (Johansson 64).

SUBS NOT USED: De Winter, Henriksen, Hoedt, Rosheuvel.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Johansson 67.

HEERENVEEN: Nordfeldt, Marzo, Van Aken, Buijs, Van Anholt, Van Den Berg, De Roon, Sinkgraven (Schmidt 90), Slagveer, Uth (Dalgaard 86), Thorsby (Otigba 81).

SUBS NOT USED: De Fockert, Raitala, Varga, Van Amersfoort.

GOALS: Sinkgraven 38.

BOOKINGS: Sinkgraven 58, De Roon 76.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Sergio Rochet (AZ Alkmaar)

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EREDIVISIE: FC Twente 2-1 Go Ahead Eagles

September 14, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

SATURDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER 2014

FC TWENTE 2 – 1 GO AHEAD EAGLES

After four consecutive draws, FC Twente grabbed their first win of the season against Go Ahead Eagles but they did not rely on the plethora of talent they brought in at the summer to provide the action it was a forgotten man that stole the show writes Will Burns.

Back in August 2013, I wrote this about the young Mexican Jesús Manuel Corona, as he was a player I had seen many times star in Mexican championships and international youth tournaments. After only making 15 games last season, the winger had not really set the world alight until on Saturday evening against the Eagles of Deventer.

Twente started bright and were ahead in less than four minutes through Luc Castaignos finishing off a wonderful team goal. Hakim Ziyech fed in Castaignos on the edge of the area, who in turn played to Corona, who then threaded the needle for the big striker to finish.

On twenty minutes, the game was tied through Marnix Kolder after he was failed to be picked up and he blasted home from close range after good work from Jules Reimerink.

Within ten minutes, the lead was restored in which Jesus Corona notched what would be the winning goal with an excellent effort. After easily dispatching his marker, Sven Nieuwpoort on the left wing, the Mexican cut inside and played into the area. With only Erik Cummins to beat, the 21-year-old dipped a shot across the goal that deceived the keeper and nestled into the corner.

Hakim Ziyech decided to get in on the act just before the half-time whistle with a great chance that Cummins did well to stop. Ziyech received the ball from Andreas Bjelland’s long ball out of defence and took the ball down well on his chest then flicked it over his and Xandro Schenk’s head. With the crowd roaring in delight, he emerged into the area and fired a half-volley at Cummins and Castaignos nearly grabbed onto the rebound.

Just after the restart, Coruna weaved his magic and again and won his side a tremendous chance of clinching the points early, after Giliano Wijnaldum fouled the Mexican in the box. Castaignos smashed the penalty at the left of the goal and Cummins held strong and palmed away.

Twente pressed and it could have been a lot worse for Fouke Booy’s men were it for not for Cummins’ great display. The last twenty minutes saw Ryo Miyachi make his debut since signing on loan from Arsenal but the game petered out and Twente claimed their first win of the season.

Still undefeated, Twente have the squad to be a major rival for Ajax and PSV in the title chase but will have to improve at the back and in front of goal when playing the top sides.

TEAMS

TWENTE: Marsman, Martina, Lachman (Bengtsson 46), Bjelland, Schilder, Mokotjo, Ebecilio, Ziyech, Mokhtar (Miyaichi 70), Castaignos, Corona (Eghan 83).

SUBS NOT USED: Stevens, Koppers, Børven, Breukers.

GOALS: Castaignos 4, Corona 31.

BOOKINGS: Ziyech 60, Mokotjo 85.

GO AHEAD: Cummins, Van der Linden, Schenk, Wijnaldum (Ten Den 88), Overgoor, Kolder, Duits (Lambooij 77), Nieuwpoort, Lewis, Van Ooijen (Rijsdijk 69), Reimerink.

SUBS NOT USED: Van der Hart, Amevor, De Bondt, Van der Meer.

GOALS: Kolder 22.

BOOKINGS: None.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Jesus Manuel Corona (FC Twente)

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EREDIVISIE: Ajax 2-1 Heracles

September 14, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

SATURDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER 2014

AJAX 2 – 1 HERACLES

Ajax returned to winning ways rather unconvincingly against manager-less Heracles who suffered their fifth straight defeat, still searching for their first point writes Will Burns.

Amsterdam coach Frank de Boer began the game with young Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik, a loanee from Bayer Leverkusen, up front in place of Kolbeinn Sigthorsson, with possibly thoughts of Wednesday’s Champions League home clash against Ligue 1 money men Paris Saint-Germain. The 20-year old was the scorer of both goals in this win and maybe gave De Boer food for thought for his future selections.

Milik fired out of the blocks and grabbed his first goal within a minute. Danish midfielder Lasse Schöne threaded a poor ball through which Milik had to work on and overpower Heracles defender Bart Schenkeveld. The Pole did wonderfully to knock the big defender off the challenge and smash a low drive across Dennis Telgenkamp’s goal to send the ArenA into raptures.

The defending champions had plenty of chances to kill the game off but depended on Milik to find the second goal on the stroke of half-time. After some great work from young winger Anwar El-Ghazi skipping through Heracles’ challenges, Milik cut inside to fire home from the edge of the area.

Thomas Bruns saw his close range effort saved from Jasper Cillessen just after the restart which fired a warning to Ajax that Heracles may be down but certainly not out. The visitors gained the majority of the possession but failed to bother the Dutch international goalkeeper until four minutes remaining.

Substitute Bas Sibum easily sent a cross over without a decent challenge from Nicolas Boilesen and Wout Weghorst nodded an excellent header into Cillessen’s goal. The relegation contenders then gave Ajax a torrid time as the time wore on, however Ajax held on for the win.

TEAMS

AJAX: Cillessen, Van Rhijn, Veltman, Moisander, Boilesen (Zimling 61), Klaassen (Duarte 75), Viergever, Serero, El Ghazi, Milik, Schöne (Andersen 62).

SUBS NOT USED: Boer, Van der Hoorn, Sigthorsson, Ligeon.

GOALS: Milik 3, 45+1.

BOOKINGS: Milik 74, Duarte 90+3.

HERACLES: Telgenkamp, Te Wierik, Schenkeveld, Veldmate, Engberink, Bruns (Bel Hassani 71), Pelupessy (Sibum 81), Fledderus, Tannane (Navratil 74), Weghorst, Linssen.

SUBS NOT USED: Fij, Koenders, Paljic, Cziommer.

GOALS: Weghorst 86.

BOOKINGS: None.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Arkadiusz Milik (Ajax)

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EREDIVISIE: FC Twente 0-0 Feyenoord

August 31, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

SUNDAY 31ST AUGUST

FC TWENTE 0 – 0 FEYENOORD

There were no goals in the match between FC Twente and Feyenoord, but there were plenty of chances for both. The quality in the final third was lacking. However there were positives for both, especially in the midfields writes Jack Jackman.

Feyenoord were facing a difficult trip to face FC Twente and it would be a real test of the new side, after the summer of changes that have taken place. It looks like Jordy Clasie is set to stay, which will be a huge boost and he captained the side today. It was the away side that had the better of the early exchanges as Jean-Paul Boëtius had his shot saved by Nick Marsman, while the in-form Mitchell te Vrede had two chances, the first he headed wise, and the second was a shot well saved by the Twente goalkeeper.

The home side started to come into the game as Hakim Ziyech started to threaten, forcing a save from range. The likes of him, Kyle Ebecilio, Luc Castaignos and Youness Mokhtar in the same side is very exciting. Around the half an hour mark, Lex Immers had a great chance to open the scoring for Feyenoord, but his close range shot was excellently saved by Mulder.

Then the big moment of the first half arrived as Boëtius was brought down in the box by Cuco Martina and the referee awarded the away side with a penalty. It was Te Vrede who stepped up to take it, but Marsman guessed the right way and saved a tame penalty. Minutes later, Tonny Vilhena had a decent chance as he found room inside the box, but he failed to find a way past Marsman. The first half ended goalless, but it was an entertaining half and it started to look like the new look Feyenoord team could do things this season in the Eredivisie, with Boëtius looking particularly threatening.

The second half started even, Kamohelo Mokotjo came close with an effort from long range that forced a save from Mulder. This was quickly followed by Ziyech shooting just wide as the home side were turning up the pressure. Feyenoord didn’t create as much as they did in the first half, but te Vrede missed the target with two headers as he continued to be a handful, despite being wasteful in front of goal.

The Feyenoord striker had two chances in quick succession around the 75 minute mark, the first effort went fractions wide, and the second needed to be saved by Marsman after good work to create the chance by Jens Toornstra.

There were a lot of late chances with te Vrede forced a save with his head, the forward had lots of chances today, but couldn’t make one of them count. This was quickly followed by a chance for the home side as Ziyech’s shot from range was saved by Mulder, the midfielder will turn out to be a great signing for Twente, he looked very good today and created lots of problems for Feyenoord.

Elvis Manu produced an excellent bit of skill to put in a cross for Jordy Clasie who headed fractions wide, it looked for a moment like the skipper would score the winner for the away side. Feyenoord nearly nicked at with the last kick of the game as Elvis Manu headed past Marsman, but it was scrambled out by the defenders. The draw was a little unfair on Feyenoord who were the better team. However they lacked composure in the final third, especially te Vrede who had plenty of opportunities to score, but failed to find a way past Marsman, who was excellent all match. There were lots of positives for the side that finished second last season and it looks like they will continue to improve in years to come.

TEAMS

TWENTE: Marsman, Martina, Lachman (Breukers 46), Bengtsson, Koppers, Mokotjo, Ebecilio, Ziyech, Mokhtar (Eghan 69), Castaignos, Kusk (Ould-Chikh 79).

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

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Martina 33, Ebecilio 67.

FEYENOORD: Mulder, Wilkshire, Van Beek, Mathijsen, Nelom, Clasie (Karsdorp 90), Immers (Toornstra 46), Vilhena, Schaken (Manu 72), Te Vrede, Boëtius.

SUBS NOT USED: Hahn, Kongolo, Basaçikoglu, Kazim-Richards.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Van Beek 39.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Nick Marsman (FC Twente)

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EREDIVISIE: FC Groningen 2-0 Ajax

August 31, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

SUNDAY 31ST AUGUST

FC GRONINGEN 2 – 0 AJAX

After losing at home to fellow title challengers PSV last weekend, Ajax were desperate to get back to winning ways in a tricky looking fixture against FC Groningen at the Euroborg. However, the Amsterdammers produced a very flat performance and they looked lost without their star man Daley Blind, who sealed his £14 million move to Manchester United yesterday writes Simon Prue.

FC Groningen began the game well and dominated possession throughout the first half. Antonia provided the outlet for Groningen and his pace was causing all sorts of problems for Boilesen with his pace and trickery.

After a slow start, Ajax grew into the game as Ricardo Van Rhijn’s deflected cross was well saved by Padt. Attempts from El Ghazi and Klassen followed but Ajax could not find the breakthrough. Ajax started to have longer periods of possession and this culminated in Lasse Schone’s delightful 21st minute reverse pass which put Kolbeinn Sigthorsson through on goal but the Icelandic striker’s lack of confidence was evident as he opted to cut the ball back across the box to Davy Klaassen rather than slot the ball home.

FC Groningen showed occasional signs of their counter attacking threat during the first half as Tjaronn Chery had a number of efforts comfortably saved by Dutch international Jasper Cillessen.

Groningen gifted Ajax a golden opportunity just before half time with some woeful defending as Kappelhof lost possession in the penalty area and Ajax nearly capitalised as Klaasen teed up El Ghazi only for the Dutchman to fire miserably over the crossbar.

Erwin van der Looi’s teamtalk clearly inspired his players at half time as they came firing out of the blocks and Eric Botteghin’s 48^th minute goal put the hosts 1-0 ahead. Van Der Velden played Chery in down the left hand side of the penalty area and Chery’s cut back found Betteghin who converted from three yards out.

The hosts continued to pile pressure on Ajax as Antonia’s cross found Chery who had the chance to double the lead from eight yards out but he could only poke the ball straight into the hands of Cillessen.

On the hour mark Ajax began to assert themselves once again as some great skill from El Ghazi allowed him to send a wicked cross into Sigthorsson but the out of form striker could only glance his header wide of the goal. El Ghazi then cut the ball inside onto his left foot with a backheel and his shot flew past Padt’s left hand post. If Ajax were going to get a breakthrough it was going to be through the ingenuity of El Ghazi and he came very close to levelling in the 82nd minute. He wriggled his way past Kappelhof wonderfully but he could only blaze over the bar from close range.

FC Groningen then caught Ajax on the counter as substitute Michael de Leeuw wrapped up the game in the 87 minute. Van Der Velden and Chery linked up just as they did for the first goal and Chery’s dangerous cross was met by the onrushing de Leeuw who nodded home from six yards out.

There was a late surge of pressure from the visitors as Duarte and El Ghazi both saw efforts go close. Davy Klassen had a good opportunity to restore some pride deep in stoppage time but his volley did not trouble Padt and the ball rolled wide of the mark.

It is two defeats in a row now for Ajax who look nothing like a side that are challenging for an unprecedented fifth consecutive Eredivisie title.

TEAMS

GRONINGEN: Padt, Hiariej, Botteghin, Kappelhof, Van Nieff, Kieftenbeld, Chery, Lindgren, Van der Velden (Hagenauw 90), Hoesen (De Leeuw 73), Antonia.

SUBS NOT USED: Van der Vlag, Islamovic, Saban, Hateboer, Baas.

GOALS: Botteghin 48, De Leeuw 87.

BOOKINGS: None.

AJAX: Cillessen, Van Rhijn, Veltman, Moisander (Van der Hoorn 81), Boilesen, Klaassen, Viergever, Serero (Duarte 81), El Ghazi, Sigthórsson, Schöne (Kishna 72).

SUBS NOT USED: Vermeer, Ligeon, Andersen, Milik.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Boilesen 36.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Tjaronn Chery (FC Groningen)

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EREDIVISIE: NAC Breda 3-1 PEC Zwolle

August 31, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

SUNDAY 31ST AUGUST

NAC BREDA 3 – 1 PEC ZWOLLE

NAC Breda did not soothe PEC Zwolle’s European hangover with a 3-1 comfortable win in the Rat Verlagh Stadion writes Will Burns.

Breda started the brighter of the two sides with Zwolle looking lacklustre, possibly due to their 3-1 defeat in Prague on Thursday night that knocked them out of the Europa League. However, the visitors did create the first decent chance that Czech striker Tomas Necid missed. Bram van Polen supplied a superb cross from the right-wing and the 6ft 3inch attacker found himself unmarked in the centre, however he embarrassingly put his header wide of Jelle ten Rouwelaar’s post.

On the half-hour mark, PEC Zwolle experienced a major let off as NAC should have really took the lead. From a free-kick deep on the right, Zwolle failed to clear and the ball fell perfectly for Erik Falkenburg but Diederik Boer parried well from close range. The rebound was smashed off the crossbar by Isak Ssewankambo and bounced out.

It was a warning fired at Zwolle which they did not take heed off seven minutes later. On-loan Chelsea striker Stipe Perica finished a great move from Falkenburg’s cross that Ssewankambo nodded down into the Croatian 19-year old to poke home.

Although, Ron Jans made two changes at half-time to fire some life into his side. Jody Lukoki and Joost Broerse replaced Mustafa Saymak and Trent Sainsbury and within five minutes of the restart, Zwolle were level. Jesper Drost and Stef Nijland combined well to set up Necid to grab his first goal for the club.

NAC were not finished by any means and went on the attack and found themselves the lead again on 65 minutes after Van Polen fouled Perica in the area and referee Tom van Sichem awarded a spot-kick. After arguing with Perica on who would take the penalty, Erik Falkenburg converted superbly straight down the middle of Boer’s goal.

The points were sealed by Nebojša Gudelj side’s five minutes from the end with Elson Hooi blasting a shot past Boer after Jeffrey Sarpong had carried the ball forward and laid the substitute in.

A great win for Breda after a disappointing start to the season, but Zwolle will need to pick themselves up after the international break if they wish to compete for European places this year.

TEAMS

NAC: Ten Rouwelaar, Ssewankambo, Drost, Damcevski, Amieux, De Kamps, Falkenburg (Hooi 77), Matic, Boateng, Perica, Tighadouini (Sarpong 46).

SUBS NOT USED: Babos, De Roover, Seuntjens, Swerts, Van der Weg.

GOALS: Perica 37, Falkenburg 66P, Hooi 84.

BOOKINGS: Matic 54, Perica 72.

ZWOLLE: Boer, Van Polen, Van der Werff (Ioannidis 70), Sainsbury (Broerse 46), Van Hintum, Rienstra, Lam, Saymak (Lukoki 46), Drost, Nijland, Necid.

SUBS NOT USED: De Jong, Moro, Pereira, Thomas.

GOALS: Necid 49.

BOOKINGS: Necid 53, Lukoki 89.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Kingsley Boateng (NAC)

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EREDIVISIE: PSV 2-0 Vitesse

August 31, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

SUNDAY 31ST AUGUST

PSV 2 – 0 VITESSE

Luuk de Jong grabs his first goal for PSV as he helps the Eindhoven side to a somewhat flattering 2-0 win against a Vitesse side who will be pleased with some aspects of their performance reports Ryan O’Grady.

PSV came into this game off the back of a brilliant 3-1 win away at Ajax that shocked the Amsterdam Arena crowd. Vitesse however were coming into this game having lost 2-1 to PEC Zwolle despite controlling large parts of the game. PSV made one change to the side for today’s game, new loan signing from Valencia, Andres Guardado replaced Jorrit Hendrix in midfield.

The first 40 minutes of this game belonged to Vitesse who from the get go pressed the PSV players high up the pitch. In only the second minute Guardado was dispossessed by Traoré on the edge of the box but the on-loan Chelsea midfielder could only get off a weak effort that was easily saved by Zoet.

After the first 15 minutes Vitesse already had 67% possession. Vitesse nearly wasted their early dominance when in the 15thminute a long ball was played forward that should’ve been easily dealt with by the Vitesse defence but instead Diks seemed to be at a loss as to what to do with the ball and decided to touch it behind for a corner without realising Depay was behind him but luckily Depay couldn’t capitalise.

Although Vitesse were the better team for most of the first half they rarely created any chances with Traoré having a couple that were easily saved and Vejinovic with a long range effort that was miles above the crossbar. Then in the last 5 minutes of the first half Vitesse appeared to let up slightly on their pressing game and PSV came into the game.

Firstly some good inter-play down the right wing resulted in Maher knocking the ball past Kashia on the edge of the box and seemingly through on goal but the central defender recovered well and managed to clear. Then Diks again couldn’t cope with a long ball and his poor touch fell to Narsingh who cut inside and unleashed a shot that was well saved by Velthuizen in the Vitesse net.

The first minute and a half of the second half started well for Vitesse before a quick counter attack by PSV resulted in a goal. Luuk De Jong picked the ball up around thirty yards out and ran towards goal but overran the ball, however the clearance by the Vitesse defence ricocheted off another defender and the ball fell to Narsingh who poked it towards De Jong and he side footed the ball into the corner of the net.

PSV then started a period of dominance that didn’t result in many chances. In the 61st minute Narsingh received the ball inside the box in a dangerous position but over ran the ball and it was easily cleared. During this period of dominance Vitesse did have one chance, Traoré tricked his way past two PSV players and ran into the box but was unable to get enough power behind his shot that was easily collected by Zoet.

In the 70th minute Depay crossed to Maher who mishit the ball but fortunately it landed to Narsingh although he could only hit the side netting. Vitesse came back into the game just after this chance. Substitute Achenteh was allowed to run towards the corner of the box before unleashing a powerful drive that went out for a corner after smacking the post. Then a cross came in from the left hand side of the box that was pushed away by Zoet straight to Labyad on the edge of the box whose shot was well saved by again by Zoet and ricocheted of Dauda’s head to go out for a goal kick. PSV went down the other end and Depay was allowed to come inside and release a shot but it went about two yards wide.

This was followed up in the 89th minute when substitute Jozefzoon played a lovely through ball to de Jong in the box and he should have scored from close range but his shot was well saved by Velthuizen, who was Vitesse’s man of the match. Velthuizen could do nothing about the next effort from PSV. Kashia slid for the ball about 40 yards out and completely missed it allowing Depay to run onto the ball and he tried to round the keeper but Velthuizen got a touch on it. Unfortunately for him the touch fell straight to Adam Maher who blasted it in from the edge of the box. To round the game off Depay had a chance at the very end but he slipped at the vital moment.

TEAMS

PSV: Zoet, Brenet, Rekik, Bruma, Willems (Arias 69), Maher, Guardado (Hiljemark 75), Wijnaldum, Narsingh (Jozefzoon 83), De Jong, Depay

SUBS NOT USED: Pasveer, Locadia, Ritzmaier, Hendrix.

GOALS: De Jong 48, Maher 90+1.

BOOKINGS: Maher 34, Guardado 73, Hiljemark 85.

VITESSE: Velthuizen, Diks, Kashia, Van der Heijden, Kruiswijk (Achenteh 60), Vejinovic, Pröpper, Leerdam, Labyad, Qazaishvili (Dauda 60), Traoré (Olinyk 70).

SUBS NOT USED: Room, Mori, McEachran, Ibarra.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Kruiswijk 24.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Jeroen Zoet (PSV)

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