NAC Breda continues their tremendous form with their fifth win in five with the only 100% record in the division as 35 goals were exchanged in Week 5 of the Eerste Divisie. As always, Will Burns is here with a round-up of all the action.
Lewis Fiorini celebrates his goal as NAC Breda sit at the top of the Eerste Divisie.
NAC Breda still leads the pack on 15 points with a 2-1 win at home to Jong PSV on Saturday afternoon. Despite falling behind to an early Nigel Thomas goal, NAC equalised on eight minutes through Moreno Rutten. Although, Huseyin Dogen missed a penalty for the league leaders, Lewis Fiorini, a Scottish midfielder on loan from Manchester City wrapped up the win.
Almere City continued their winning ways defeating Helmond Sport by the 2-0 scoreline after Anass Ahannach and Delvechhio Blackson scored in the second half.
SC Cambuur hammered Jong Utrecht 5-2 and now sit joint third with Roda JC and Telstar in the league. Issa Kallon scored four times in the win with Michael Breij grabbing the other.
The aforementioned Telstar had the biggest win of the week defeating FC Den Bosch 6-1 on Monday evening. Both Sebastian Soto and Ilias Bronkhorst each scored a brace while Glynor Plet and Gyliano van Velzen added the remaining two goals.
Strangely enough, the Eerste Divisie’s top scorer Elias Mar Omarsson failed to keep his goal tally racking up as Excelsior were defeated 3-0 by Jong Ajax on Monday evening.
Full results below.
RESULTS
Friday 25th September
FC Dordrecht 2-0 Jong AZ
Almere City 2-0 Helmond Sport
SC Cambuur 5-2 Jong Utrecht
MVV Maastricht 3-0 TOP Oss
Saturday 26th September
NAC Breda 2-1 Jong PSV
Sunday 27th September
De Graafschap 2-0 N.E.C. Nijmegen
FC Volendam 0-0 Go Ahead Eagles
Monday 28th September
Jong Ajax 3-0 Excelsior
SC Telstar 6-1 FC Den Bosch
Tuesday 29th September
FC Eindhoven 3-3 Roda JC
Four goal hero Issa Kallon of SC Cambuur.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
With four goals in Cambuur’s 5-2 win over Jong Utrecht, Issa Kallon of SC Cambuur is our Player of the Week award.
You can watch game by game highlights at the official YouTube page of the league by clicking here.
Almere City and NAC Breda fired themselves to the top of the Eerste Divisie and TOP Oss and FC Dordrecht finally clinched their first point, Will Burns is here with a round-up of all the action.
De Graafschap’s star striker Ralf Seuntjens suffered an horrendous ankle injury in the 7-3 defeat to Jong AZ.
Jong AZ were the biggest winners of the week defeating De Graafschap by a wild 7-3 scoreline on Monday evening. The highly-rated duo of Moahmed Taabouni and Zakaria Aboukhlal both scored a brace while Thijs Oosting, Hakon Evjen and Tijani Reijnders grabbed the other goals for Alkmaar’s B side.
De Graafschap replied three times with Ralf Seuntjens, Elmo Lieftink and Daryl van Mieghem replying to no avail. Unfortunately for Seuntjens, he left the game on a stretcher due to an ankle injury. After the final whistle, head coach Mike Snoei stated the injury was “bad, it’s very bad.”. Worrying news for the side from Doetinchem.
Roda JC were impressive on Friday night smashing four past FC Dordrecht goalkeeper Anthony Swolfs. De Koempels began the scoring through an 34th minute Ronald Alberg penalty and Jordy Crouz added a second a minute later. Goals from Amir Absalem and Stefano Marzo rounded out the scoring in the 4-0 rout.
Sydney van Hoojidonk managed to nab another goal on Monday night in NAC Breda’s 2-0 win over Jong Utrecht. Nick Venema netted the other goal as Breda climbed back over Almere City to top the division.
Almere temporarily sat in first place with their 1-0 win away at N.E.C. Nijmegen with a goal from central defender Damon Mirani.
Full results below.
RESULTS
Friday 18th September
Helmond Sport 0-1 FC Volendam
Jong PSV 1-2 FC Eindhoven
Go Ahead Eagles 0-3 Jong Ajax
Roda JC 4-0 FC Dordrecht
Saturday 19th September
TOP Oss 2-2 SC Cambuur
Sunday 20th September
N.E.C. Nijmegen 0-1 Almere City
Monday 21st September
Jong AZ 7-3 De Graafschap
Jong Utrecht 0-2 NAC Breda
Tuesday 22nd September
Excelsior 1-2 sc Telstar
FC Den Bosch 2-0 MVV Maastricht
Jong AZ starlet Zakaria Aboukhlal is knocking on Arne Slot’s door.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
With two goals and a hat-trick of assists, Zakaria Aboukhlal of Jong AZ is wins our Player of the Week award.
You can watch game by game highlights at the official YouTube page of the league by clicking here.
DUTCH FOOTBALL IS BACK! The Dutch first division gets underway this Friday night as the twenty (…well 16) teams of the Eerste Divisie begin their journey vying for promotion to the Eredivisie writes Will Burns.
Henk de Jong’s SC Cambuur should run out as favourites to clinch promotion, when the season kicks off this Friday night. In the cut-short 2019/20 campaign, the boys from Leeuwarden lead the division and much thanks to the goals of loanee Robert Muhren from Belgian outfit Zulte Waregem. One vital piece of business this summer was securing Muhren down for another season. If he can repeat his tremendous feat of scoring 26 goals last term in 29 games, Cambuur should produce a strong challenge for that top spot again.
SC Cambuur hitman Robert Muhren scored 26 goals in 2019/20.
However, to ease the burden on Muhren they have signed Maarten Pouwels from Go Ahead Eagles on a permanent basis. The 21-year-old managed to score four times in 13 appearances for the Eagles last term, he should get plenty chances to outlast that figure this time round. They have kept the majority of their core as midfielder Jamie Jacobs, defenders Doke Schmidt, Sven Nieuwpoort and Calvin Mac-Intosch, goalkeeper Sonny Stevens and wingers Jarchinio Antonio and Issa Kallon are still in Leeuwarden to help mount a serious challenge.
Stokkers and Dogan need to start hitting the target more often for NAC to succeed.
NAC Breda have strengthened during the break and look a sturdy contender for the ascension to the top league. Experienced in the Eredivisie, Dion Malone and Thom Haye have joined on frees from ADO Den Haag. Haye making last years’ loan move a permanent one, while Scottish youth international midfielder Lewis Fiorini has flown in from Manchester City. The striking power of Finn Stokkers and Huseyin Dogan needs to improve. They notched just 11 league goals last season, if Breda are to mount a serious challenge, they will need to find the net more consistently.
Despite losing highly-rated winger Anthony Musaba to French giants AS Monaco, N.E.C. Nijmegen should still be a contender. New coach Rogier Meijer has brought attacking players Rangelo Janga (loan from FC Astana), Anton Fase (free transfer from AZ) and Elayis Tavsan (free from Sparta Rotterdam) into the squad to soften the blow of Musaba’s departure.
The Nijmegen side also lost Mike Tresor Ndayishimiye to Willem II and defenders Bas Kuipers and Josef Kvida to Go Ahead and Greek side Pafos FC respectively but the permanent capture of former Jong Ajax midfielder Jordy Bruijn from SC Heerenveen is a real coup for N.E.C.
Kees van Wonderen leads Go Ahead into the new season.
Go Ahead Eagles, following a sixth-finish under Jack de Gier last year, sees Kees van Wonderen take the helm in Devanter. The Eagles overhauled their midfield options which were high on Paul Bosvelt’s (Technical Director) agenda. Jay Idzes (FC Eindhoven) and Erkan Eyibil (FC Mainz) have been drafted in joining Kevin van Kipperslius, Scotsman Frank Ross, Bradly van Hoeven and former Den Bosch favourite Luuk Brouwers to bolster the squad that saw a substantial turnover of staff over the protracted off-season.
Elsewhere, there is some debate who will wear the number one shirt following Hobie Verhulst’s move to AZ. Ex-Volendam keeper Mitchel Michaleis arrived to compete with 20-year-old Jay Gorter for the starting berth in-between the sticks. The playoff should be the target for van Wonderen’s side and a vital piece of the playoff puzzle will come from the goals of Frenchman Antonin Rabillard. The 24-year-old found the goal 11 times in 28 outings last season, and the Eagles will be hoping he builds on what was an impressive first season at the club.
Experienced defensive midfielder Rick Dekker is now plying his trade at De Graafschap.
Mike Snoei will lead De Graafschap into the new season with an abundance of new talent in his squad. After claiming fees for Leeroy Owusu (Willem II) and Branco van den Boomen (Toulouse), Snoei used the resources to bring in highly-rated goalkeeper Rody de Boer on loan from AZ and experienced midfielders Rick Dekker from PEC Zwolle and Johnatan Opoku from VVV. They have retained the services of Ralf Seuntjens up top with Joey Konings joining him from Heracles in attack. Konings will look to revitalize his career after failing to nail down a permanent forward slot in Almelo. Right-back Julian Lelieveld arrives from Vitesse on a free to benefit the options in defence.
He’s back. Francesco Antonucci returns to play for FC Volendam this season.
With one of the youngest squads in the division, Wim Jonk’s FC Volendam may struggle to match their third-place last year, with minimal new blood injected into his team. The former Dutch midfielder saw Francesco Antonucci return to the club after impressing last term. The 21-year-old Belgian playmaker was loaned in from AS Monaco last year but Feyenoord intervened in the summer to purchase the players and allowed Jonk to loan him back to Volendam for further playing time. Scoring 11 times in only 20 appearances inspired Jonk to pull out all the stops to bring the midfielder back. However, losing left-back Gijs Smal to FC Twente was a blow and Jonk is yet to replace him.
Telstar will pin their hopes on Haiti striker Richelor Sprangers to score goals this season.
Excelsior lost influential midfielder Rai Vloet to Heracles but coach Marinus Dijkhuizen will turn to new arrivals Reuven Niemeijer or Mitchell van Rooijen to fill the void. Telstar were forced to part with top scorer Reda Kharchouch as his 20 goals in the last campaign saw him attract attention of Sparta Rotterdam. Big hopes will be placed on the shoulders of Haitian striker Richelor Sprangers to do the business in front of goal.
We are in for another interesting season in the Eerste Divisie, which fills our Friday nights with excitement and goals galore. We will see more young talents emerging with Jong Ajax, Jong PSV, Jong AZ and Jong Utrecht, obviously unable to clinch promotion, looking to take points off the promotion hopefuls in the process.
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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 NACBreda 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 PSVEindhoven 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.
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.
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 77th 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 65th 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.
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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The fifteenth round of Eredivisie action got underway with two fixtures taking place on Friday evening. The first of which saw AZ Alkmaar get back to winning ways by hitting Fortuna Sittard for three without reply before reigning Eredivisie champions, PSV Eindhoven put the loss of their 100% league record firmly behind them by putting six past a hapless Excelsior at the Philips Stadion.
Saturday’s action began in Tilburg where Heerenveen made it back-to-back victories by hitting an undermanned Willem II for five.
Elsewhere, title-chasing Ajax closed the gap between themselves and top-of-the-table PSV to just two points once more after putting four past struggling PEC Zwolle.
However, while Saturday’s first two fixtures yielded a whopping eleven goals between them, there were none to be found in The Hague where ADO Den Haag and De Graafschap drew a blank in the day’s final fixture.
Sunday’s Eredivisie action got underway at the Stadion Galgenwaard where FC Utrecht hit Heracles for three without reply – a result which saw Dick Advocaat’s men leapfrog their guests into fourth place in the standings.
Elsewhere, having hit VVV Venlo for four on Thursday evening in a fixture rearranged from earlier in the campaign, Feyenoord posted another four goals to see off the challenge of hosts, FC Emmen and, in the process, record a sixth consecutive victory in all competitions.
In sharp contrast, there were no goals to be found at De Koel where Sergio Padt was the hero in securing Groningen a priceless point from their clash with VVV Venlo.
The fifteenth round of Eredivisie action was brought to a close at the Rat Verlegh Stadion where Arno Verschueren’s 84th-minute effort ultimately proved just enough to see struggling NAC Breda edge out an undermanned Vitesse Arnhem and move off the foot of the table.
The fourteenth round of action in the Dutch top flight began on Friday evening at the Van Donge & De Roo Stadion where three goals in the space of ten second-half minutes saw an undermanned FC Utrecht come back from the dead to snatch an unlikely share of the spoils from their clash with Excelsior.
Saturday’s Eredivisie action got underway in Arnhem where a 51st-minute Caner Cavlan effort ultimately proved enough to earn FC Emmen a point from their encounter with Vitesse.
Elsewhere, goals from Clint Leemans and Younes Namli saw PEC Zwolle end a run of three straight defeats by edging out an undermanned De Graafschap on the road in Doetinchem while a first-half double from Fran Sol saw Willem II get back to winning ways at the expense of AZ Alkmaar.
The day’s action was concluded in Friesland where Heerenveen rediscovered that winning feeling by hitting in-form Fortuna Sittard for three.
Sunday’s Eredivisie action began at the Johan Cruijff ArenA where Ajax cut PSV Eindhoven’s lead at the top of the standings to just two points by hitting a hapless ADO Den Haag for five.
Elsewhere, Heracles edged their way back into the top four by smashing visiting VVV Venlo for four while first-half goals from Nicolai Jørgensen and Sam Larsson ultimately proved just enough to see Feyenoord bring PSV’s run of thirteen-straight league victories to an end at De Kuip.
The fourteenth round of Eredivisie action was concluded at the Hitachi Capital Mobility Stadion where struggling Groningen gave their survival hopes a much-needed shot in the arm by hitting rock-bottom NAC Breda for five.
Following the final international break of the calendar year, the Eredivisie resumed its normal service with a pair of fixtures getting underway simultaneously on Saturday evening which saw Ajax tune-up for Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League engagement with AEK Athens by hitting struggling NAC Breda for three without reply while an 83rd minute Nick Kuipers effort saw ADO Den Haag snap a run of five games without a win in all competitions by edging out hosts, PEC Zwolle in a five-goal thriller at the MAC3PARK Stadion.
The day’s action was concluded with two more matches taking place concurrently that saw reigning Eredivisie champions, PSV Eindhoven put three past an undermanned Heerenveen to post a thirteenth-straight league victory while Fortuna Sittard continued to exceed expectations by hitting high-flying Heracles for three to muscle their way into the top ten.
Sunday’s Eredivisie action got underway at De Oude Meerdijk where an 89th-minute effort from Ryan Koolwijk saw Excelsior snatch all three points late on against FC Emmen.
Elsewhere, FC Utrecht edged their way into the top five after smashing a hapless De Graafschap for five while a lone Jens Toornstra effort ultimately proved just enough to see Feyenoord squeeze past in-form Groningen at De Kuip.
Meanwhile, first-half goals from Matus Bero, Oussama Darfalou and Bryan Linssen saw Vitesse take all three points from their clash with Willem II in Tilburg before the thirteenth round of action was brought to a close at De Koel where a last-gasp leveller from Patrick Joosten in the third minute of added time saw an undermanned VVV Venlo snatch an unlikely point from their clash with visiting AZ Alkmaar.
With yet another international footballing window looming large on the horizon, the twelfth round of action in the Dutch top flight got underway on Friday evening at the MAC3PARK Stadion where Willem II put back-to-back league defeats behind them by edging out fellow strugglers, PEC Zwolle in a five-goal thriller off the back of a double from their talismanic Spanish marksman, Fran Sol.
Saturday’s Eredivisie action began at De Oude Meerdijk where second half goals from Caner Cavlan and Jafar Arias eased FC Emmen to victory over another side struggling to beat the drop – NAC Breda.
Elsewhere, reigning Eredivisie champions, PSV Eindhoven made it twelve-straight league victories by hitting De Graafschap for four in Doetinchem to extend their lead at the top of the standing to eight points ahead of the rest of the weekend’s fixtures while Martin Ødegaard’s first goal in the colours of Vitesse ultimately proved just enough to secure the Arnhem-based outfit maximum points from their encounter with FC Utrecht.
The day’s action was brought to a close with Peniel Mlapa’s double firing VVV Venlo to victory over Limburg rivals, Fortuna Sittard in a five-goal thriller at De Koel.
Sunday’s Eredivisie action got underway with Groningen securing bragging rights over local rivals, Heerenveen in the Derby of the North off the back of first half goals from Django Warmerdam and Ritsu Doan.
Elsewhere, a lone Guus Til effort six minutes into the second half ultimately proved just enough to see AZ Alkmaar take all three points from their clash with ADO Den Haag while, buoyed by moving another step closer to securing a place in the latter stages of the UEFA Champions League following their midweek draw in Lisbon, Ajax hit a hapless Excelsior for seven to reduce PSV’s advantage at the top of the standings to five points once more.
The twelfth round of Eredivisie action was brought to a close in Almelo where an own goal from the host’s unfortunate goalkeeper, Janis Blaswich just before the hour followed by a Jens Toornstra effort just four minutes later eased Feyenoord to victory over high-flying Heracles
The eleventh round of Eredivisie action got underway with Groningen moving off the foot of the table after hitting Excelsior for four at the Van Donge & De Roo Stadion on Friday evening.
Saturday’s action in the Dutch top flight began with two matches kicking off simultaneously. One of which saw an 88th minute effort from Mitchell te Vrede help NAC Breda snatch all three points from under the noses of visiting Heracles to continue their recent run of good form while, at the same time, a lone Luuk de Jong effort saw PSV Eindhoven put their humiliating cup exit at the hands of second-tier outfit RKC Waalwijk behind them by dispatching an undermanned Vitesse Arnhem and, in the process, post an eleventh straight league victory which put the reigning Eredivisie champions eight points clear at the top of the standings ahead of the rest of the weekend’s fixtures.
The day’s Eredivisie action was brought to a close with two more fixtures getting underway at the same time. One of which saw a Mats Seuntjens goal fourteen minutes from time ultimately prove the difference as AZ Alkmaar put back-to-back league defeats behind them by edging out visiting De Graafschap while first-half goals from Kasper Dolberg and Frenkie de Jong helped Ajax tune-up for Wednesday evening’s UEFA Champions League clash with Benfica by easing to a routine two-goal victory over Willem II at the Johan Cruijff ArenA.
Sunday’s Eredivisie action began in Friesland where a late leveller from Reuven Niemeijer two minutes from time saw FC Emmen snatch a late share of the spoils from their clash with Heerenveen.
Elsewhere, FC Utrecht made it three wins in as many games by hitting ADO Den Haag for three without reply while Fortuna Sittard edged their way into the top ten by virtue of posting the same scoreline against struggling PEC Zwolle.
The eleventh round of Eredivisie action was given an unexpected early mark when the lights went out (quite literally) during Feyenoord’s clash with VVV Venlo, causing the match to be postponed.
The tenth round of Eredivisie action got underway at De Oude Meerdijk on Friday evening where a 64th-minute effort from Stef Gronsveld ultimately proved enough to earn hosts, FC Emmen a share of the spoils against an undermanned VVV Venlo.
Saturday’s action in the top flight of Dutch football began with NAC edging a point clear of the foot of the table after their clash with ADO finished all square in The Hague.
Elsewhere, De Graafschap got back to winning ways by hitting an undermanned Excelsior for four while a Denzel Dumfries effort three minutes from time saw table-topping PSVEindhoven snatch a last-gasp victory over rock-bottom Groningen to move eight points clear of second-placed Ajax.
Saturday’s Eredivisie action was brought to a close at the MAC3PARK Stadion where a 73rd-minute effort from Mike van Duinen ultimately proved enough to earn struggling PEC Zwolle a share of the spoils against high-flying Heracles.
Sunday’s action got underway in Arnhem where a 66th-minute effort from Matus Bero proved decisive as Vitesse got back to winning ways at the expense of the previously in-form Fortuna Sittard.
Elsewhere, a late Willem Janssen effort three minutes from time saw FC Utrecht snatch all three points from under the noses of Willem II in Tilburg while Ajax reduced PSV’s advantage at the top of the standings to five points after hitting an undermanned Feyenoord for three without reply in De Klassieker.
The tenth round of Eredivisie action was brought to a close at the AFAS Stadion where an 84th-minute effort from Sam Lammers saw Heerenveen snatch victory over hosts, AZ Alkmaar by the odd goal in five.
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