Defensive midfielder Kamohelo Mokotjo has signed a three-year deal with PEC Zwolle on a free transfer from Feyenoord. He is the first summer acquisition for Zwolle and the transfer will be made official on July 1st when the European Transfer Window opens.
The 22-year-old South African previously played for SuperSport United in his homeland before moving to the Netherlands in 2008 where he signed with Feyenoord, who subsquently loaned him to feeder club Excelsior.
Mokotjo states he is delighted with his move to Zwolle. “I was ready for a new challenge and I am happy with this opportunity.
“A few weeks ago the club showed some interest in me and after an initial discussion with Zwolle coach Ron Jans and technical director Gerard Nijkamp, I was positive that something good would happen.
“This season Zwolle have done well in all competitions. They also have a great stadium, a good vibe and big crowds that I can’t wait to play in front of,” he tells PECZwolle.nl
Nijkamp says he is pleased with their acquisition. “For PEC Zwolle, Kamohelo Mokotjo is a real asset. He is the type of player that we do not have. He creates the perfect balance in midfield and creates space. We are very happy that it has worked out as we have wanted this player for a long time,” he adds.
Teddy Chevalier has left RKC Waalwijk after he and the club agreed on a mutual termination of their contract.
Teddy Chevalier here challenging Feyenoord’s Stefan de Vrij
Chevalier arrived last summer from Zulte Waregem, after scoring 19 goals in 94 appearances for the Belgian side. For Waalwijk, he has netted nine times in 28 appearances and the Frenchman still had two years left on his existing deal. The player’s days were numbered after repeated misconduct and a suspension by coach Erwin Koeman.
“We are waiting for the player’s signature to make it official” said technical director of RKC, Janus van Gelder, who confirmed that the attacker will no longer be with the team this coming weekend when RKC takes on NEC in the last game of the season.
A move back to Belgium could be on the cards for the striker, reportedly KV Mechelen are interested in signing him for next season.
Eagles’ Bart Vriends in duel with Dordrecht’s Fouad Idabhelhay
FC Dordrecht 3 (Veldwijk 21, 40)
Go Ahead Eagles 3 (Heerkens 25, Türüç 45+2, Houtkoop 56)
Dordrecht and Go Ahead Eagles shared six goals on Wednesday night in a lively game with some great goals.
Lars Veldwijk grabbed two goals for the hosts and the first came after 21 minutes. The energetic Jeffrey Rijsdijk provided the assist. Four minutes later and the visitors were level, Freek Heerkens scoring on 25 minutes.
Go Ahead found themselves a goal down again in the 40th minute and this time a man down. Bart Vriends conceded a penalty whom Veldwijk smashed down the middle for his second of the game, the defender was given his marching orders from referee Richard Liesveld.
But again, Dordrecht were not ahead for long. Two minutes into first-half injury time, Turkish Under-19 international Deniz Türüç curled a free-kick perfectly past a stranded Warner Hahn in the home goal.
Dordrecht showed aggression in the second half as they searched for a third goal but a blunder from Hahn let Go Ahead take the lead against the run of play. Failing to collect the ball on the edge of the box, Hahn lost out to Türüç. The young Turk was smart and instead of shooting, crossed the ball towards the back post. He had spotted the arriving Xander Houtkoop and the winger placed his head onto the ball into the empty net.
It took the home side until ten minutes from time to find an equaliser, and it came from Cape Verde international defender Josimar Lima. A floating free-kick sent into the penalty area by Rijsdijk, and Lima rose above everyone to head into the corner of the net to clinch the draw.
The winner over two legs faces VVV Venlo in the second round.
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Piotr Parzyszek rises above the Fortuna defence to head home
De Graafschap 2 (Parzyszek 45, 70)
Fortuna Sittard 1 (Vets 80)
Two headed goals from soaring Polish striker Piotr Parzyszek provides De Graafschap a great chance of meeting Roda JC in the second round of the playoffs, despite a 80th minute consolation goal from Fortuna’s Niels Vets.
Target man Parzysek, 6ft 3inches, got on the end of a pair Tim Vincken’s crosses for Peter Huistra’s men but Belgian defender Vets gave Fortuna Sittard a salvation in this two-legged affair.
As expected, Ajax Amsterdam won their 32nd Eredivisie title, and third in a row today as they put five past Willem II, which condemned the Tilburg club to the Jupiler League next season.
Ajax champions for the third year in the row
For the third season in a row, Ajax Amsterdam are the Eredivisie champions.
Manager Frank de Boer stated to Eredivisie Live after today’s game: “We have been the most consistent. This year, we were able to finish our games in the first half of the season and then we have had a nice 5-0 championship winning game today. You should reward yourself and the public like we did today. With maybe a little luck, we feel we could have won by a bigger margin but nevertheless, we are proud of this title.”
“Were we the rightful champions? Yes, I think so. We have been the most consistent and I think we have played the best football.” he added. De Boer now joins Ronald Koeman as only men to have won at least three league titles in the Netherlands as player and a coach. In another interesting record, De Boer joins former Barcelona team-mate Pep Guardiola as a player and coach to three-peat with the same club.
An amazing 38 goals were scored on the penultimate round of fixtures of the Eredivisie season, full report tonight!
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The F-side unveil the 32nd Championship flag
Ajax 5 (Sigthórsson 12, Eriksen 25, Fischer 68, de Jong 82, Hoesen 89)
Willem II 0
The champions went out and got the job done in style with a 5-0 demolition of Willem II Tilburg which sent the visitors back down into the Jupiler League. The party got underway after just 12 minutes when Kolbeinn Sigthórsson delivered a well-executed diving header following a great cross from Ryan Babel. The lead was extended thanks to an error from Tilburg keeper David Meul, who let a long drive from Christian Eriksen slip through his hands after 25 minutes.
After Danish 18-year-old winger Viktor Fischer had added a third, the fans in the F-Side of the Arena unveiled the flag in the picture above and started the celebrations. Within ten minutes to Siem de Jong added a fourth before substitute Danny Hoesen got in on the act minutes later.
After a third straight title, the Amsterdammers will now want to focus on competing in the UEFA Champions League, but fear they could lose players like Fischer, De Jong, Eriksen and Toby Alderweireld to foreign clubs.
“This feels great but it would be perfect if this team sticks together for another year so we can try to survive the Champions League group stage,” said left back Daley Blind, who signed a new three-year contract last month.
On the other end of the spectrum, Willem II now face at least another season in the Eerste Divisie, and will hope to hang onto young stars like Genaro Snijders, Virgil Misidjan and Niek Vossebelt to try and come back up to the top level as soon as possible.
HIGHLIGHTS
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Stefan de Vrij has possibly played his last game for Feyenoord
ADO Den Haag 2 (van Duinen 10, Holla 37P)
Feyenoord 0
It was a bad day all around for Ronald Koeman’s Feyenoord as they day ended with top scorer Graziano Pelle missing a last minute penalty, as well as losing defender Stefan de Vrij with a broken nose, which could have been his last game for the club.
Den Haag prodigy Mike van Duinen continued his great goal scoring form putting ADO ahead after 10 minutes of play. Feyenoord failed to get a grip on the match and after 37 minutes they found themselves 2-0 down. Danny Holla placed home a spot-kick awarded to the hosts after Daryl Janmaat fouled Tjaronn Chery in the area.
Feyenoord will play in the Europa League next year after PSV’s victory today made them out of reach in the last round of fixtures due to the Eindhoven club’s superior goal difference.
HIGHLIGHTS
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NEC’s Gabor Babos is stranded after Daan Bovenberg own goal sails over the Hungarian goalkeeper
PSV Eindhoven will join the UEFA Champions League qualifying campaign in the summer after clinching second place in the standings but it was not all plain sailing in their 4-2 victory over NEC Nijmegen on Sunday afternoon.
PSV gained a stroke of luck to get the day going in the right direction after Daan Bovenberg’s own goal gave the hosts a 1-0 lead after 9 minutes. A long throw was zipped in from the left and the NEC defender flicked it over goalkeeper Gabor Babos’ head, much to the Hungarian’s displeasure. It was 2-0 before half-time with a superb goal from Swedish striker Ola Toivonen which was PSV’s 100th goal of the season.
PSV’s jubilation then turned to panic in the second half, when the visitors grabbed two goals back and levelled the game. Nick van der Velden and Frenchman Remy Amieux, both notched after fumblings in the Eindhoven defence, and the Phillips Stadion spectators were not happy.
Up stepped Jermain Lens just two minutes after Amieux’s goal to regain the lead and send the crowd in raptures. A powerful driving free-kick from Mark van Bommel was plamed away by Babos and the return came in from young left-back Jetro Willems but again the goalkeeper could not hold. Lens anticipated this and pounced on the scraps to put PSV 3-2 ahead. Young substitute striker Jurgen Locadia put the final nail in NEC’s coffin five minutes into injury time after a scrappy ending to the match.
After the game head coach, Dick Advocaat confirmed that he will leave at the end of the season, his replacement is rumoured to be former club favourite Philip Cocu.
HIGHLIGHTS
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Nourdin Boukhari was sent for an early bath for two yellow cards for backchatting the referee
RKC Waalwijk 3 (Braber 3, Lieder 40, Duits 69P)
Vitesse Arnhem 2 (van der Heijden 47, Havenaar 68)
Vitesse crashed to a 3-2 away defeat to ten-man RKC Waalwijk which has pulled the hosts of relegation trouble. The visitors were shocked after just three minutes when they fell behind to Robert Braber goal after some terrible defending from Guram Kashia.
It did not look to be RKC’s day after 28 minutes when forward Nourdin Boukhari stupidly was shown two yellow cards for arguing with the officials. After a terrible miss from Vitesse’s Mike Havenaar just before the break, the home side found themselves two goals in-front. Mart Lieder showing Havenaar how to head a ball straight from a corner after the Arnhem striker had hit the post from five yards out moments earlier.
It looked like Fred Rutten had whipped his boys into shape at half-time as Jan-Arie van der Heijden slid home Wilfried Bony’s header to grab a goal back just two minutes into the second half. The forward line of Marco van Ginkel, Bony and Havenaar were looking bright and got on level terms on 68 minutes. Again, Bony with the assisting header onto Havenaar to finish.
Everyone watching would not have predicted what happened next, as Vitesse had the momentatum, RKC got the ball from the kick-off and attacked again. Florian Jozefzoon ran at the poor Kashia and the defender brought the attacker down to give RKC a spot kick. Sander Duits hit the penalty home and Fred Rutten substituted Kashia minutes later.
The game petered out and RKC are safe from the relegation playoffs as Vitesse will start next season playing UEFA Europa League football.
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Viktor Elm is congratulated by team-mates after putting AZ ahead
AZ warmed up for Thursday, KNVB Beker final against PSV in style with a 4-0 home win over PEC Zwolle.
Alkmaar started well and took the lead on 20 minutes, when Adam Maher whipped in a corner was headed home by Swedish midfielder Viktor Elm. It was 2-0 in the 39th minute with a Roy Beerens close range volley giving goalkeeper Diederik Boer no chance.
AZ continued to press after the break and added a third just past the hour with substitute Aron Johannsson netting and Adam Maher grabbed the final goal 77 minutes with Elm crossing to repay Maher for his earlier assist.
Despite the defeat, Zwolle will be happy with the season so far, sitting in 14th and they have survived their first year back in the Eredivisie. AZ now sit in the tenth and will hope that Heerenveen are defeated next weekend away to Roda, so they can qualify for the European playoffs. Alkmaar will need a win when they play away to relegated Willem II.
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A poor game in Venlo finished goal-less and VVV will enter the relegation playoffs
VVV Venlo 0
FC Groningen 0
A scoreless and toothless draw in Venlo as VVV enter the relegation playoffs with FC Groningen qualifying for the Europe League playoffs later this month. The Limburgers enter the relegation survival playoffs for the third season in a row as Groningen seemed to be already on their post season holidays.
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FC Utrecht pulled out all the stops on Sunday to win 4-2 away to Heerenveen
Heerenveen 2 (El Ghanassy 30, 80)
FC Utrecht 4 (Toornstra 34, Mulenga 61, Wuytens 67, van der Hoorn 86)
Utrecht defeated Marco van Basten’s Heerenveen side 4-2 to leave the visitors lingering in the uncertainty of reaching the UEFA Europa League next season. A win or a draw today would have confirmed the playoff place for the home side not even two goals from Yassine El Ghanassy could lead to the win they so desperately needed.
El Ghanassy put Heerenveen ahead after half an hour but Jens Toornstra equalised just four minutes later. On-fire Icelandic striker Alfred Finnbogason smashed a header off the crossbar before the break as Heerenveen pressed for the second goal. Utrecht then had a fire lit under them on the second-half and a quick-fire double in six minutes after the hour gave them a 3-1 advantage. Jacob Mulenga and Jan Wuytens with the Utrecht goals but El Ghannasy hit a second for the hosts to give them hope of a comeback.
But with just four minutes to go, Utrecht finished the game off with defender Mike van der Hoorn’s diving header sealing the win.
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Twente’s Nacer Chadli and Heracles defender Bart Schenkeveld tussle for the ball
Heracles 1 (Bruns 7)
FC Twente 1 (Fer 27)
Fifth-placed FC Twente came from behind to grab a point against Heracles in the ‘Derby of the East’ which spoiled the home side’s chances of European football next term.
Heracles started well and were ahead after 7 minutes gone, Thomas Bruns capitalised on poor defending from a Dragan Paljic through ball. Twente went in search of a goal, and after Luc Castaignos missing a good chance they finally did score, as creative midfielder Leroy Fer (rumoured to joining Everton in England’s Premier League) equalising on 27 minutes.
Both teams attacked looking the second goal in the second half with Everton coming the closest smashing an effort against the post and failing with the rebound. At the end of the game, the Brazilian striker was in tears as he left the pitch, as rumour has it that could be on his way in the summer after seven years at the club.
Heracles Almelo slip down to 11th with their chances of reaching the European play-offs slim, while FC Twente are overtaken in fifth by FC Utrecht.
HIGHLIGHTS
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Kees Luijckx of NAC is hunted by Roda’s Sanharib Malki
Roda joins VVV in the relegation playoffs after losing an eight-goal thriller away in Breda five goals to three. The visitors took a 3-1 lead with first-half goals from Frank Demouge and midfielder Roly Bonevacia (on-loan from Ajax) with former Ajax player Mitchell Donald netting a third just after half-time. NAC’s Brazilian defender Eric Botteghin scored in the 18th minute to level the scores at 1-1 but Breda were overwhelmed by Roda JC, then came the outstanding comeback orchestrated by the sensational Anthony Lurling.
Rick ten Voorde got the result back to 3-2 with a good effort just before the hour and Lurling grabbing his first of two beautiful goals minutes later with a wonderful strike. A 75th minute Elson Hooi goal put NAC in front before Lurling smashed home a spectacular long-range hit to claim all three points.
NAC Breda now are placed in mid-table obscurity with nothing to play for heading into the last week of fixtures with Roda having the worry of the relegation playoffs.
AZ Alkmaar jumped up to eleventh in the Eredivisie with a shocking emphatic 4-0 win away to Marco van Basten’s Heerenveen. American international Jozy Altidore grabbed his 22nd and 23rd goals of the season in the process.
Goalscorer Jozy Altidore and Adam Maher celebrate
With AZ coach and leader Gertjan Verbeek sitting in the stands due to a suspension many pundits would have wrote off their chances of defeating a strong Heerenveen side who have won six of their last eight games with only one defeat. The Cheese Farmers proved those pundits wrong in the Friday night and thumped Van Basten’s men by four goals.
Without the creativity of seasoning Filip Djuricic, who also sat in the stands with a hamstring injury, Heerenveen looked to have no inspiration or determination. Altidore grabbed the first goal after breaking the offside trap and getting goal side of central defender Jeffrey Gouweleeuw. The American placed a shot that forced a save out of goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt but the ball gratefully feel perfectly for Altidore’s head to nod the away team ahead.
Two minutes later, the lead was doubled. From the left, Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson whipped in a vicious ball to the back post where Roy Beerens was arriving to smash past Nordfeldt.
Heerenveen came out the second half looking for a revival, unfortunately for the home side, this was not produced and the game was all but finished just after the hour.
A great run by Guðmundsson ended by the Icelandic getting on the scoresheet after a cute little backheel from Altidore. The icing was put on the cake three minutes later after AZ were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box and Altidore grabbed his second. The striker stepped up and took the free-kick quickly and curled it in the left top corner giving Nordfeldt no chance.
Heeremveen currently sit in seventh with a chance of making the Europa League next year through the playoffs while AZ are placed 11th and well out of the relegation trouble now.
It is no surprise to many following the game in the Netherlands that AZ attacking midfielder Adam Maher is perhaps most coveted Dutch footballer at the moment.
Earlier this year in the January transfer window, English Premier League clubs knocked on the door of AZ Alkmaar, and now as the season ends and clubs around Europe await the opening of a new window, the English superpowers are ready to rumble throughout the summer for the Ducth international.
The Morrocan-born Oranje star is wanted by Eredivisie giants PSV and Ajax but the top clubs from the Premier League are in the market and they very well may tempt the playmaker to head to the British Isles.
British newspaper The Mirror have reported that Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are some clubs that Maher would like to attract.
In AZ, they are only too well aware of the foreign interest. On Maher, as what happens with many young Dutch talents an excessively high price tag has been slapped on so that AZ can make some major profit. It is rumoured that interested clubs can tempt AZ to sell him for around £15.4m, which is approximately equivalent to €18m.
But which club is the preference for Maher? Maher himself does not except anything to happen and says to he will wait until the summer. “I look to see which clubs are interested but nothing will be discussed until the summer. “
But as friend of the site, Scottish-based Dutch football expert Peter McVitie added, Maher has said over and over that he wishes to stay in Holland: ‘He has maintained since January that he wants to stay in Eredivisie and, since February, he has made clear that he wants to join one of Ajax or PSV in the summer. He lives in Amsterdam and has praised Ajax several times in recent weeks and he has actually said that he has an idea which club he would prefer to join.’
For Maher, who would like to leave with his ailing club, it is hoped that when he does leave this summer, AZ make as much as they can so they use the funds to be a force in the Eredivisie again.
Ajax have one hand on their third consecutive Eredivisie title after they defeated rivals PSV 3-2 at the Phillips Stadion on Sunday afternoon. Feyenoord dropped out of the race as they were held to a disappointing draw at RKC Waalwijk.
Willem II players look dejected after the late 3-2 defeat at Heerenveen
Marco van Basten’s side will be thanking his lucky stars and Alfreð Finnbogason after his late penalty gave Heerenveen all three points when it looked like they had gave them away. The bottom side, Willem II now look resigned to relegation when glancing at the league table but they did take the lead at Abe Lenstra Stadion.
After just 12 minutes, Willem found themselves ahead. 21 year old midfielder Ricardo Ippel grabbed a rebound from a free-kick and volleyed first time, beneath the crossbar which keeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt should have done better with. The break came and Heerenveen were lucky just to be the solitary goal down but they arrived back out a different beast. This showed on 53 minutes as Belgian winger Yassine El Ghanassy calmly finishing from the back post after receiving a Patrick van Aanholt cross. Two minutes later, Heerenveen had competed the turnaround. Icelandic striker Finnbogason grabbed his 22nd in the league this season with an easy tap in. Some sloppy defending by the home side let Tim Cornelisse thread the ball through to Luxembourg striker Aurélien Joachim to grab a 80th minute leveller. The Tilburgers did not hold out to the point for long as captain Philipp Haastrup got caught guilty of hand ball. Taking his tally up to 23 for the league season, Finnbogason placed the penalty home and clinched the win.
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Jozy Altidore (centre) grabbed a hat-trick in AZ’s 6-0 win
AZ Alkmaar 6 (Altidore 28P, 34P, 37, van der Hoorn 45+1OG, Henriksen 61, Jóhannsson 90)
FC Utrecht 0
AZ’s relegation worries were eased after a huge 6-0 win over nine-man Utrecht which included a first-half hat-trick from American international striker Jozy Altidore. Utrecht would have felt their were fighting a losing battle when they had Anouar Kali and Jan Wuytens both sent off before Altidore put AZ 2-0 up after 34 minutes. Kali was sent off for a second yellow after conceding the penalty with a foul on Altidore in the 27th minute, this was the 1500th red card in the league.
To make matters worse for Utrecht, before the second penalty, first choice goalkeeper Robbin Ruiter had to be replaced due to injury and Jeroen Verhoeven found himself beaten five times before the final whistle.
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Feyenoord coach Ronald Koeman disappointed with his team’s display today
RKC Waalwijk 1 (Duits 55)
Feyenoord 1 (Pelle 13P)
Feyenoord let their title hopes slip through their fingers after only achieving a draw away to RKC. Feyenoord started well and went ahead with Italian forward Graziano Pelle hiting a penalty home for his 23rd of the season.
In the 55th minute, RKC drew level with an individual effort from Sander Duits that shattered Feyenoord hearts and their title dreams.
Feyenoord coach Ronald Koeman stated he was “deeply disappointed in his team” in an TV interview afterwards.
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Christian Eriksen wheels away after putting Ajax 2-1 up
Ajax look set to be champions again after defeating PSV 3-2 and now have a five point gap between themselves and second place Vitesse. It was the visitors that took the lead with striker Kolbein Sigthorsson jumping onto a mis-kicked Mark van Bommel ball just after half an hour gone. Ajax maybe should have had a chance to extend the lead with a penalty when young Danish striker Viktor Fischer was grabbed by Van Bommel just inside the box but nothing was given.
Ajax must have been hoping to take the lead in at half time, but this was not to be. Sloppy play by Christian Eriksen in his own half let Georginio Wijnaldum steal in and knock the ball onto Kevin Strootman. Strootman kept his cool, one on one with Jasper Cillessen and slided the ball through to the unmarked Jermaine Lens to finish.
PSV started the brighter at the start of the second half but it was Ajax to hit them on the counter attack and go 2-1 up. It was Christian Eriksen who made up for his first half error on 50 minutes with a wonderful solo effort that he smashed home at Boy Waterman’s front post. PSV pressed as Ajax sat back and defended their lead. On 67 minutes, PSV were back level. The impressive Dries Mertens’ whipping free-kick rattled off the post and Lens was there again to poke home with a well-controlled finish inside the post.
Ajax were furious just a minute later, when they should have definitely been awarded a penalty kick this time. Midfielder Lasse Schone sped past Jetro Willems and the young left-back brought the Dane down in the box, referee Björn Kuipers waved claims away. PSV replaced Willems with Erik Pieters and Ajax switched Christian Poulsen for Derk Boerrigter and on 76 minutes, both were involved in the fifth goal of the match. With his first touch of the game, Boerrigter pounced on a terrible mix-up between goalkeeper Waterman and Pieters to regain the lead.
PSV will need Ajax to drop two games to get back in the title race but with only four games left in the league season, it certainly looks like the title will be heading to Amsterdam again.
PEC Zwolle condemned VVV Venlo further into relegation trouble with a 2-0 away win in Friday night’s live televised game. At the same time, Zwolle seemed to have cemented the fact that they will be playing top flight league football next season.
Ghanaian-born striker Fred Benson had an impressive game, collecting two goals to take his tally to five this season in 28 games. The first came about with Zwolle’s first chance just under 12 minutes, after some nice work from Youness Mokhtar then ball fell to Benson who finished the play with a hard shot that gave VVV goalkeeper Niki Mäenpää no chance.
The second goal came from route one football. A long ball sent over from Wiljan Plume and Benson found himself in some space to lash the ball home and confirm the three points. It was a poor lacklustre display by VVV Venlo with only Bryan Linssen looking threatening out of the eleven. Zwolle move up to twelfth and VVV stay situated in the relegation playoff spot.
PSV technical director Marcel Brands presents Willems with the no.15 shirt
Left-back Jetro Willems signed a new deal with PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday afternoon to keep him at the Philips Stadion until summer 2017.
Willems joined PSV from Sparta Rotterdam in 2011 and the 19-year-old has rapidly established himself as a first-team regular. At 18 years and 71 days, while representing the Dutch national side, he became the youngest ever player at the 2012 European Championship in Poland and Ukraine.
Willems put pen to paper on the contract extension in the presence of his family, agent and PSV technical director Marcel Brands. Willems made twenty league appearances for PSV in his first season in Eindhoven and is also a key player in the current campaign.
“Things have gone really well very quickly” states Willems. “When I joined PSV from Sparta, my career really started and now I’ve played for my country at the 2012 Euro” said the left-back, beaming with pride, when speaking in an exclusive interview with the official PSV website.
The defender has scored one goal for PSV far, netting an equaliser in the 2-1 win over N.E.C. last season. He has not found the back of the net this season yet, but that does not worry Willems in the least. “I am a defender whose first duty is to defend.” Having signed a new deal, Willems says that winning the title with PSV is his next aim. “We want to be crowned champions and therefore we need a win over Ajax on Sunday” said Willems.
PSV and Vitesse have temporarily joined Ajax on sixty points with wins today and both are now joint top in a very close title race in the Eredivisie. Ajax play Heracles tomorrow knowing that they have no room for error for the remainder of the season with Feyenoord also snapping at their heels.
Wilfried Bony heads Vitesse ahead with his 28th goal of the season
Vitesse 3 (Bony 28, 59, Ibarra 50)
NAC Breda 0
The on-fire Ivorian striker Wilfried ‘Daddy Cool’ Bony added his 28th and 29th goals of the season this evening in a 3-0 win over NAC Breda that fired Vitesse on sixty points to join PSV and Ajax at the top.
It was a really poor start to the game until on 28 minutes when Bony scored his 28th of the season in just 26 games. It was also the eighth Eredivisie game in a row in which he has scored a goal. Vitesse went from first gear to fifth gear as soon as Bony hit the net. Frenchman Gael Kakuta (on loan from Chelsea) nearly finished off a brilliant solo effort after crashing his shot off the crossbar just a minute later.
Renato Ibarra virtually sealed the game for Vitesse on 50 minutes with a wonderful solo goal after an error from NAC goalkeeper Jelle ten Rouwelaar. Bony was on the scoresheet again and killed the game off on 59 minutes for his 29th league goal of the season.
HIGHLIGHTS
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Castaignos smashes home for his tenth goal of the season
FC Twente 2 (Castaignos 44, Chadli 56)
Roda JC 0
FC Twente fianlly clinched their first win in 2013 in a home win over relegation worried Roda JC.
Luc Castaignos and Nacer Chadli were the goalscorers at the Grolsch Veste. Twente dominated but once again had great difficulty to find the net. Once there had been opportunities for Tim Hölscher, Chadli, the chances fell the way of Castaignos. The youngster smashed the ball home past goalkeeper Filip Kurto after a nice through ball from Leroy Fer.
Shortly after the break, Chadli made it 2-0 after he used great technique to curl the ball inside the post. Roda unfortunately could not break Twente down or get themselves back in the game and looking good contenders for the drop.
HIGHLIGHTS
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Zwolle and RKC still linger above the relegation places
PEC Zwolle 1 (Mokhtar 21)
RKC Waalwijk 1 (Jozefzoon 7)
PEC Zwolle and RKC are also in relagation toruble and could not help their causes by sharing the points on Saturday evening. Florian Jozefzoon gave RKC an excellent start after just 7 minutes. The home team recovered, however, and Youness Mokhtar equaliser midway through the first half. After the break, both teams spurned chances to take the maximum points. Both RKC and Zwolle are on thirty points after 29 games, the teams are respectively thirteenth and fourteenth.
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PSV captain Marc van Bommel celebrates his 50th PSV league goal
In a bland first half, it was the basement club Willem II that looked more likely to score with 19-year-old left-winger Virgil Misidjan, became a real thorn in PSV’s side throughout. But it was an old face that opened the scoring. Thirty-five year-old stalwart Marc Van Bommel hit a 25-yard low drive past Belgian goalkeeper David Meul in the Willem goal in first-half stoppage time. This was his 50th Eredivisie goal for PSV.
Willem grabbed an unlikely equalizer on 54 minutes through Jordens Peters with an accurate header past PSV ‘keeper Boy Waterman after Peters got on the end of a lovely whipped cross from Marc Höcher. PSV regained the lead and got their title challenge back on track fifteen minutes from the end with the reliant Swede striker Ola Toivonen. Toivonen finishing a wonderful move from the hardworking Memphis Depay. The points were settled minutes later with a rare Timothy Derijck goal. A exquistie backheeled flick by Kevin Strootman from a Atiba Hutchinson cross setup the big Belgian defender Derjick perfectly to head home.
Feyenoord added a little pressure on the Eredivisie leaders Ajax with a close 1-0 win over VVV Venlo on Friday evening.
Feyenoord headed into tonight’s game in fourth place, four points adrift of leader Ajax and one behind both PSV and Vitesse, but with the one goal win Feyenoord have now jumped to second place with the victory, although the surrounding teams are obviously still to play this weekend.
Feyenoord were forced to work hard for the three points, especially with scores being locked at 0-0 heading into the final twenty minutes. It took a 71st-minute strike from Italian striker Graziano Pelle after a whipping cross from defender Joris Mathijsen to break the deadlock and send Feyenoord second.
Van de Looi recieves his first managerial job at Groningen next season
FC Groningen today announced that Erwin van de Looi will replace Robert Maaskant as head coach at the end of the season, he has signed a two-year contract. It was also stated that Dick Lukkein would be his assistant.
Van de Looi has worked his way up the ranks at Groningen after started as youth team coach in 2008 until 2010 when he became then head coach Peter Huistra’s assistant. After Huistra’s departure he then moved on to Maaskant’s assistant but after last month’s contract negoications, Maaskant has decided to leave.
As a player, Van de Looi was a player and started at the youth academy of Vitesse Arnhem, and went on to make his professional debut at Den Bosch in 1991. Then followed five years at Vitesse, three season at NAC Breda, a yearover in Germany for the Stuttgarter Kickers and finished at FC Groningen. He retired at 30 after sustained injuries.
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AZ Alkmaar jumped up to eleventh in the Eredivisie with a shocking emphatic 4-0 win away to Marco van Basten’s Heerenveen. American international Jozy Altidore grabbed his 22nd and 23rd goals of the season in the process.
Ajax have one hand on their third consecutive Eredivisie title after they defeated rivals PSV 3-2 at the Phillips Stadion on Sunday afternoon. Feyenoord dropped out of the race as they were held to a disappointing draw at RKC Waalwijk.
PSV and Vitesse have temporarily joined Ajax on sixty points with wins today and both are now joint top in a very close title race in the Eredivisie. Ajax play Heracles tomorrow knowing that they have no room for error for the remainder of the season with Feyenoord also snapping at their heels.
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