The nineteenth round of Eredivisie action got underway at the Rat Verlegh Stadion where a goal from super-sub Gervane Kastaneer five minutes into the second half ultimately proved enough to earn struggling NAC Breda a priceless point from their clash with ADO Den Haag in their battle to beat the drop.

Saturday’s action began in Almelo where goals from Mike van Duinen and Lennart Thy saw a resurgent PEC Zwolle post back-to-back victories for the first time since the end of September by seeing off hosts Heracles.

Elsewhere, goals from Luigi Bruins and Mounir El Hamdaoui saw Excelsior snap a run of five games without a win at the expense of rock bottom De Graafschap while a first-half double from Hirving Lozano saw reigning Eredivisie champions PSV Eindhoven negotiate the challenge of visiting Groningen to open up a five-point lead at the top of the standings.

The day’s action was concluded in Venlo where a last-gasp effort from Michael Chacón in the fifth minute of added time saw FC Emmen snatch all three points in a five-goal thriller with VVV.

Sunday’s Eredivisie action began in Sittard where a 92nd-minute strike from Finn Stokkers saw Fortuna snap a run of three games without a win by seeing off visiting Vitesse. 

Elsewhere, there were remarkable scenes at De Kuip where Feyenoord claimed Klassieker honours in emphatic fashion by hitting title-chasing Ajax for six while a lone Daniel Crowley effort a minute into the second half ultimately proved enough to earn Willem II all three points on the road in Utrecht. 

The nineteenth round of Eredivisie action was brought to a close in Friesland where an own goal from the unlucky Sherel Floranus and an Oussama Idrissi effort saw AZ Alkmaar make it three wins on the bounce in all competitions with a victory over Heerenveen.

Results: Week 19

NAC Breda 1-1 ADO Den Haag

Heracles Almelo 0-2 PEC Zwolle

Excelsior 2-0 De Graafschap

PSV Eindhoven 2-1 FC Groningen

VVV Venlo 2-3 FC Emmen

Fortuna Sittard 2-1 Vitesse Arnhem

Feyenoord 6-2 AFC Ajax

FC Utrecht 0-1 Willem II

SC Heerenveen 0-2 AZ Alkmaar

Team of the Week

GK – Mickey van der Hart (PEC Zwolle)

DF – Jeremiah St. Juste (Feyenoord)

DF – Kingsley Ehizibue (PEC Zwolle)

DF – Menno Koch (NAC Breda)

DF – Jurgen Mattheij (Excelsior)

MF – Jens Toornstra (Feyenoord)

MF – Ousamma Idrissi (AZ Alkmaar)

MF – Younes Namli (PEC Zwolle)

FW – Jonathan Opoku (VVV Venlo)

FW – Robin van Persie (Feyenoord)

FW – Steven Berghuis (Feyenoord)

Player of the Week

Steven Berghuis (Feyenoord) – 2 points

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With the winter break over, the eighteenth round of Eredivisie action got underway on Friday evening in Arnhem where a 67th-minute effort from Maikel van der Werff ultimately proved decisive as Vitesse edged out visiting Excelsior in a five-goal thriller.

Saturday’s action in the top flight of Dutch football began at the AFAS Stadion where AZ Alkmaar got back to winning ways by hitting FC Utrecht for three without reply.

Elsewhere, PEC Zwolle kicked off the Jaap Stam era in style by putting three past visiting Feyenoord while VVV Venlo made it back-to-back victories by hitting an undermanned ADO Den Haag for four on the road in The Hague.

The day’s Eredivisie action was brought to a close at the Hitachi Capital Mobility Stadion where a new-look Groningen posted their first win since the start of December by smashing Heracles for three.

Sunday’s action got underway in Tilburg where goals from Pol Llonch and Marios Vrousai saw Willem II claim the bragging rights against an undermanned NAC Breda in the Brabantse derby.

Elsewhere, bottom-of-the-table De Graafschap gave their survival hopes a much-needed shot in the arm by smashing Fortuna Sittard for five while two goals in the space of the final ten minutes from Nicklas Pedersen saw FC Emmen snatch a late share of the spoils in their clash with defending Eredivisie champions PSV Eindhoven.

The eighteenth round of Eredivisie action was brought to a close in spectacular fashion at the Johan Cruijff ArenA where a late leveller from Kik Pierie in the first minute of added time saw Heerenveen claim a last-gasp share of the spoils in an eight-goal thriller that also denied title-chasing Ajax the chance to replace PSV at the top of the standings.    

Week 18: Results

Vitesse Arnhem 3-2 Excelsior Rotterdam

AZ Alkmaar 3-0 FC Utrecht

PEC Zwolle 3-1 Feyenoord

ADO Den Haag 2-4 VVV Venlo

FC Groningen 3-0 Heracles Almelo

Willem II 2-0 NAC Breda

De Graafschap 5-1 Fortuna Sittard

FC Emmen 2-2 PSV Eindhoven

AFC Ajax 4-4 SC Heerenveen

Team of the Week

GK – Warner Hahn (sc Heerenveen)

DF – Ricardo van Rhijn (AZ)

DF – Kenneth Paal (PEC Zwolle)

DF – Maikel van der Werff (Vitesse)

DF – Bram van Polen (PEC Zwolle)

MF – Youssef El Jebli (De Graafschap)

MF – Thomas Bruns (FC Groningen)

MF – Martin Odegaard (Vitesse)

FW – Sam Lammers (sc Heerenveen)

FW – Fabian Serrarens (De Graafschap)

FW – Patrick Joosten (VVV Venlo)

Player of the Week

Fabian Serrarens (De Graafschap) – 2 points

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With the near month-long winter break looming large on the horizon, the seventeenth round of Eredivisie action got underway on Friday evening at De Koel where goals from Tino-Sven Susic and Patrick Joosten saw hosts, VVV Venlo snap a run of five games without a win by turning away the challenge of an undermanned PEC Zwolle.

Saturday’s action in the top flight of Dutch football got off to a false start with ten-man Fortuna Sittard and struggling Groningen drawing a blank.

However, while goals were in short supply in Sittard, that certainly wasn’t the case elsewhere as reigning Eredivisie champions, PSV Eindhoven hit in-form AZ Alkmaar for three to open up a five-point lead over Ajax in second and, in the process, claim the title of ‘winter kampioen’ while, at the other end of the table, struggling NAC Breda gave their survival hopes a timely boost by hitting nine-man Heerenveen for four.

The day’s action was brought to a close at the Van Donge & De Roo Stadion where Heracles got back to winning ways by hitting hosts, Excelsior for three without reply.

Sunday’s action began at the Stadion Galgenwaard where Ajax rounded off the year by smashing hosts, Utrecht for three to cut pace-setting PSV’s advantage at the top of the standings back to two points once more.

Elsewhere, a 77^th minute spot-kick from Abdenasser El Khayati saw ADO Den Haag grab a late share of the spoils from their clash with an undermanned Feyenoord while a 65^th minute leveller from Vitesse Arnhem’s Matus Bero denied bottom-of-the-table De Graafschap a much-needed three points in Doetinchem.

The seventeenth round of Eredivisie action was concluded in Emmen where goals from Aras Ozbiliz and Fran Sol saw Willem II end the year with a win.

Results: Week 17

VVV Venlo 2-0 PEC Zwolle

Fortuna Sittard 0-0 FC Groningen

NAC Breda 4-2 SC Heerenveen

PSV Eindhoven 3-1 AZ Alkmaar

Excelsior 0-3 Heracles Almelo

FC Utrecht 1-3 AFC Ajax

ADO Den Haag 2-2 Feyenoord

De Graafschap 2-2 Vitesse Arnhem

FC Emmen 0-2 Willem II

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The sixteenth round of Eredivisie action got underway on Friday evening where ADO Den Haag got back to winning ways by hitting hosts, Willem II for three without reply on the road in Tilburg.

Saturday’s action in the Dutch top flight got off to a false start at the MAC3PARK Stadion where it was frustration all round for both PEC Zwolle and visiting, NAC Breda as it ended goalless between two sides struggling at the wrong end of the table.

Elsewhere, a 94th-minute strike from substitute Bjørn Johnsen saw AZ Alkmaar snatch all three points at the death from their encounter with visiting Excelsior while reigning Eredivisie champions, PSV Eindhoven put European elimination firmly behind them by hitting nine-man Heracles for four to move five points clear at the top of the standings.

Saturday’s Eredivisie action was concluded in Arnhem where an 80th-minute effort from Oussama Darfalou ultimately proved enough to see Vitesse edge out visiting VVV Venlo.

Sunday’s action began in Friesland where FC Utrecht withstood a second-half fightback from hosts, Heerenveen to ultimately emerge victorious in a five-goal thriller.

Elsewhere, title-chasing Ajax closed the gap between themselves and table-topping PSV to just two points once more after smashing a hapless De Graafschap for eight while a late double from super-sub Nicklas Pedersen saw FC Emmen come from behind to snatch a late win against fellow strugglers Groningen.

The sixteenth round of Eredivisie action was brought to a close at De Kuip where goals from Lars Hutten and substitute, Ahmed El Messaoudi saw Fortuna Sittard bag a shock victory over Feyenoord.

Results: Week 16

Willem II 0-3 ADO Den Haag

PEC Zwolle 0-0 NAC Breda

Heracles Almelo 0-4 PSV Eindhoven

AZ Alkmaar 2-1 Excelsior

Vitesse Arnhem 2-1 VVV Venlo

SC Heerenveen 2-3 FC Utrecht

AFC Ajax 8-0 De Graafschap

FC Groningen 1-2 FC Emmen

Feyenoord 0-2 Fortuna Sittard

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