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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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

Results: Week 12

PEC Zwolle 2-3 Willem II

FC Emmen 2-0 NAC Breda

De Graafschap 1-4 PSV Eindhoven

Vitesse Arnhem 2-1 FC Utrecht

VVV Venlo 3-2 Fortuna Sittard

FC Groningen 2-0 SC Heerenveen

Excelsior 1-7 AFC Ajax

ADO Den Haag 0-1 AZ Alkmaar

Heracles Almelo 0-2 Feyenoord

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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 88^th 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.

Results

Excelsior 2-4 FC Groningen

NAC Breda 2-1 Heracles Almelo

PSV Eindhoven 1-0 Vitesse Arnhem

AZ Alkmaar 1-0 De Graafschap

AFC Ajax 2-0 Willem II

SC Heerenveen 1-1 FC Emmen

Fortuna Sittard 3-0 PEC Zwolle

FC Utrecht 3-0 ADO Den Haag

Feyenoord P-P VVV Venlo

Team of the Week

GK – David Jensen – FC Utrecht

DF – Alessandro Ciranni – Fortuna Sittard

DF – Nicolas Tagliafico – Ajax

DF – Daley Blind – Ajax

DF – Willem Janssen – FC Utrecht

MF – Mark Diemers – Fortuna Sittard

MF – Arber Zeneli – sc Heerenveen

MF – Luka Ilic – NAC Breda

FW – Finn Stokkers – Fortuna Sittard

FW – Ritsu Doan – FC Groningen

FW – Hirving Lozano – PSV

Player of the Week

FW – Hirving Lozano – PSV

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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 PSV Eindhoven 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.

Results

FC Emmen 1-1 VVV Venlo

ADO Den Haag 1-1 NAC Breda

FC Groningen 1-2 PSV Eindhoven

De Graafschap 4-1 Excelsior

PEC Zwolle 1-1 Heracles Almelo

Vitesse Arnhem 2-1 Fortuna Sittard

AFC Ajax 3-0 Feyenoord

Willem II 0-1 FC Utrecht

AZ Alkmaar 2-3 SC Heerenveen

Team of the Week

GK – Lars Unnerstall – VVV

DF – Denzel Dumfries – PSV

DF – Nicolas Gavory – FC Utrecht

DF – Bart Straalman – De Graafschap

DF – Maikel van der Werff – Vitesse

MF – Youssef El Jebli – De Graafschap

MF – Frenkie de Jong – Ajax

MF – Hakim Ziyech – Ajax

FW – Daryl van Miegham – De Graafschap

FW – Michel Vlap – sc Heerenveen

FW – Adenassar El Khayati – ADO

Player of the Week

FW – Hakim Ziyech – Ajax

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Due to the international break, the ninth round of action in the Dutch top flight got underway on Saturday evening with two fixtures kicking off simultaneously that saw reigning Eredivisie champions, PSV Eindhoven tune up for their UEFA Champions League encounter with Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday evening by hitting a hapless FC Emmen for six to move eight points clear at the top of the standings ahead of the rest of the weekend’s fixtures while, at the same time, goals from Jeffry Fortes and Jurgen Mattheij saw an undermanned Excelsior edge out Vitesse Arnhem at the Van Donge & De Roo Stadion.

Saturday’s Eredivisie action was concluded with two more fixtures that saw title-chasing Ajax, who themselves welcome Benfica to the Johan Cruijff ArenA in UEFA Champions League action on Tuesday evening, promptly reduce PSV’s advantage at the top of the table back to five points after Erik ten Hag’s men hit Heerenveen for four without reply in Friesland while an own goal from the unlucky Ricardo van Rhijn saw FC Utrecht snatch all three points from under the noses of visiting AZ Alkmaar at the Stadion Galgenwaard.

Sunday’s action in the top flight of Dutch football got underway in Breda where a Mikhail Rosheuvel spot kick sixteen minutes from time ultimately proved enough to earn bottom-of-the-table, NAC a share of the spoils from their derby clash with Willem II.

Elsewhere, goals from Peniel Mlapa and Jay-Roy Grot saw VVV Venlo sweep aside the challenge of visiting ADO Den Haag to edge their way into the top five.

Meanwhile, Heracles ended the weekend five points and one place better off than VVV after coming from a goal down to hit struggling FC Groningen for four at the Polman Stadion while, with the season’s first instalment of De Klassieker on the horizon, Feyenoord hit PEC Zwolle for three to move within two points of second placed Ajax.

The ninth round of Eredivisie action was brought to a close in Sittard where Fortuna hit fellow newly-promoted side, De Graafschap for three to move three points clear of the drop zone.

Results

PSV Eindhoven 6-0 FC Emmen

Excelsior 2-0 Vitesse Arnhem

SC Heerenveen 0-4 AFC Ajax

FC Utrecht 2-1 AZ Alkmaar

NAC Breda 2-2 Willem II

VVV Venlo 2-0 ADO Den Haag

Heracles Almelo 4-1 FC Groningen

Feyenoord 3-0 PEC Zwolle

Fortuna Sittard 3-1 De Graafschap 

Team of the Week

GK – Justin Bijlow – Feyenoord

DF – Denzel Dumfries – PSV

DF – Angelino – PSV

DF – Branislav Ninaj – Fortuna Sittard

DF – Jurgen Mattheij – Excelsior

MF – Tino Susic – VVV

MF – Gaston Pereiro – PSV

MF – Hakim Ziyech – Ajax

FW – Luuk De Jong – PSV

FW – Lazaros Lamprou – Fortuna Sittard

FW – Hirving Lozano – PSV

Player of the Week

FW – Hirving Lozano – PSV

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With the second international break of the campaign looming large on the horizon, the eighth round of Eredivisie action got underway on Friday evening at the Stadion Galgenwaard where a Simon Gustafson double saw FC Utrecht overcome the challenge of struggling NAC Breda to edge their way into the top ten ahead of the rest of the weekend’s fixtures.

Saturday’s action in the top flight of Dutch football began in The Hague where a lone first-half effort from Elson Hooi ultimately proved enough to see ADO Den Haag edge out visiting Groningen.

Elsewhere, PEC Zwolle continued their recent resurgence by seeing off the challenge of Excelsior courtesy of goals from Mike van Duinen and Thomas Lam while reigning Eredivisie champions, PSV Eindhoven put their midweek UEFA Champions League disappointment behind them by hitting VVV Venlo for four to move eight points clear at the top of the standings.

The day’s action was concluded in Doetinchem where Heerenveen edged their way into the top eight after hitting an undermanned De Graafschap for five.

Sunday’s Eredivisie action got underway at De Oude Meerdijk where a 91st-minute effort from Jose Rodriguez earned Fortuna Sittard a late share of the spoils in a six-goal thriller with fellow Eredivisie new boys, FC Emmen.

Elsewhere, previously in-form Heracles saw their five-match winning streak go up in smoke in spectacular fashion as they were hit for four without reply by a rampant Vitesse Arnhem while an 85th-minute equaliser from Fran Sol saw Willem II snatch a late point against visiting Feyenoord.

The eighth round of action was brought to a close at the Johan Cruijff ArenA where buoyed by their impressive performance in Munich in midweek, Ajax hit a hapless AZ Alkmaar for five to end the weekend five points adrift of pacesetting PSV Eindhoven.   

Results

FC Utrecht 2-1 NAC Breda

ADO Den Haag 1-0 FC Groningen

PEC Zwolle 2-0 Excelsior

PSV Eindhoven 4-0 VVV Venlo

De Graafschap 0-5 SC Heerenveen

FC Emmen 3-3 Fortuna Sittard

Vitesse Arnhem 4-0 Heracles Almelo

Willem II 1-1 Feyenoord

AFC Ajax 5-0 AZ Alkmaar

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