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BETTING TIPS, EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE PREVIEW

EREDIVISIE Week One Preview and Betting Tips

August 11, 2018 Will Burns Leave a comment

Will Burns makes his return with three selections for this opening weekend of Eredivisie action.

PSV vs. FC Utrecht

Saturday, 19:45

We witnessed major change in Eindhoven this past summer as manager Philip Cocu left to take on a new challenge in Turkey with Fenerbahçe. He was replaced by former team-mate Marc van Bommel despite a lack of experience at this level. Last weekend, Van Bommel’s debut did get off to a good start losing on penalties to rivals Feyenoord as the Rotterdammers lifted the Johan Cruyff Schaal.

This weekend, Van Bommel begins the quest to retain the Eredivisie title against FC Utrecht and he will be encouraged by the talent he has inherited in the PSV squad. A major plus over the summer is the decision of Mexican superstar Hirving Lozano to stay in Eindhoven despite impressing at the World Cup in Russia and attraction attention from some major clubs across Europe.

De Boeren have seen success in 21 of their last 22 home matches against Utrecht in all competitions and I predict more the same on Saturday evening with plenty of goals. Utrecht saw masses of goal action on their travels last season, but specifically in 2018 so far as they have seen over 2.5 goals in their last eight away games.

PSV have notched at least two goals in nine of their last 10 games against Utrecht and with attacking talents like Lozano, Luuk de Jong and Steven Bergwijn at their disposal I feel getting on PSV on the handicap is the best bet in this one.

Recommended Bet: PSV -1 Asian Handicap – £10 on at 2.20 to win £22.00 at Paddy Power

De Graafschap vs. Feyenoord

Sunday, 13:30

Feyenoord were hammered four goals without reply by Slovakian underdogs AS Trenčín on Thursday night and it will not get any easier when they travel to Doetinchem to face Eredivisie new boys De Graafschap.

An embarrassing defeat in European qualification has not provided Giovanni van Bronckhorst with the best preparation for the new Eredivisie season. The former Arsenal and Celtic man has to contend with the absences of summer signing Yassin Ayoub and last season’s top scorer Nicolai Jörgensen too which will hamper their creation going forward.

De Graafschap will see this as an excellent opportunity to claim a huge scalp and defeat the Rotterdam giants, who start with the inexperienced 20-year-old Justin Bijlow in goal, and they may just have one eye on Thursday’s night return game against Trenčín.

Taking all this into account, the home fans at the Stadion De Vijverberg could be celebrating on Sunday afternoon. It’s long odds but I placing a bet on De Graafschap Draw No Bet at 3/1 is worth a punt.

Recommended Bet: De Graafschap Draw No Bet – £10 on at 4.00 to win £40.00 at 888Sport

Vitesse Arnhem vs. FC Groningen

Sunday, 13:30

Vitesse Arnhem are already three weeks into their new campaign due to the qualifying stages of the Europa League. Leonid Slutsky’s side have successfully dispatched Romania outfit FC Viitorul 5-3 on aggregate and were defeated 1-0 by FC Basel on Thursday night in their first leg of the third round of qualification.

Their opponents on Sunday, FC Groningen head into their first competitive game which surely gives the hosts the advantage, however Vitesse will see the second leg against Basel vitally important financially and may have thoughts elsewhere on Sunday afternoon. Groningen have become draw specialists after claiming just a point in five of their last six away league games and four of those games finished 1-1.

New manager Danny Buijs will be very pleased if his side can leave the Gelredome with a point on the opening weekend and I see that as the most likely result.

Recommended Bet: Draw – £10 on at 4.20 to win £42.00 at Betfair

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EREDIVISIE REPORT

EREDIVISIE REPORT: Week One

August 8, 2016 Will Burns Leave a comment

Week one is in the books and here is Steven Davies with a full rundown of the action.

The 61^st season of the Eredivisie kicked off on Friday 5^th August with PEC Zwolle travelling to Nijmegen to face NEC – now under the stewardship of German, Peter Hyballa. The visitors hit the front shortly after the half hour with new signing, Anass Achahbar teeing up Ajax loanee, Queensy Menig with a deft back heel. However, Ron Jans and his charges were pegged back just after the hour when new signing, Reagy Ofosu beat the offside trap and scored on his debut to leave honours even at the Goffertstadion.

On Saturday, it was the turn of the first of the two promoted teams, with Go Ahead Eagles – having negotiated a tough promotion/relegation playoff campaign against first, VVV and then De Graafschap – travelling to The Hague to face ADO. However, it was not to be a fairy tale return to the Dutch top flight for Hans de Koning’s Eagles, who, despite looking dangerous in front of goal on numerous occasions throughout the match, conceded a penalty just after the quarter hour which Japanese international, Mike Havenaar duly converted before adding a second with twenty minutes remaining. ADO, now under the guidance of Zeljko Petrovic following the departure of Henk Fraser to Vitesse, then added a third through Tyronne Ebuehi with eight minutes left on the clock as the Eagles chased the game in vain.

After adding the Johan Cruijff Schaal to their burgeoning trophy cabinet following last weekend’s triumph over KNVB Beker winner’s, Feyenoord in the season opening showpiece, reigning Eredivisie champions, PSV Eindhoven began the defence of their title with a trip to Utrecht and were shocked when Sebastien Haller put Erik ten Hag’s men a goal to the good just after the quarter hour.

However, second half strikes by first, Davy Propper in the 51^st minute and then Gaston Pereiro with 10 minutes to play, ensured that normal service was resumed and that Phillip Cocu’s men left the Stadion Galgenwaard with all three points.

Having staved off demotion and potential financial oblivion over the summer, FC Twente could not however withstand a stubborn Excelsior side who took all three points from their visit to De Grolsch Veste on Saturday evening.

Kevin Vermeulen put the visitors into the ascendancy after only 13 minutes had elapsed in Enschede before Leeroy Owusu doubled the Rotterdammers lead just after the hour mark and, despite Jari Oosterwijk pulling a goal back for Rene Hake’s men with eight minutes remaining, Excelsior – now under the tutelage of Mitchell van der Gaag – were good value for their victory.

The visitors were also celebrating in Saturday’s late fixture where Henk Fraser’s Vitesse put four past Erwin van de Looi’s, Willem II in Tilburg.

Ricky van Wolfswinkel – making his re-debut for the club where his career began – put the Arnhem outfit in front after 21 minutes before a calamitous own goal by Willem II’s Greek goalkeeper Kostas Lamprou followed by a brace from Chelsea loanee, Nathan gave the visitors a healthy advantage going into the break. The Tilburg side did manage to add some respectability through a solitary header from Spanish striker, Fran Sol after 54 minutes but a miraculous comeback failed to materialise.

Sunday’s Eredivisie action began at the Noordlease Stadion in Groningen where Ernest Faber’s men were thrashed by an impressive individual display by Eljero Elia – who netted a hat trick in a 5-0 away triumph for Feyenoord.

It was the so often enigmatic Elia’s initial shot which, having been poorly dealt with by Groningen ‘keeper Sergio Padt, presented an open goal for Tonny Vilhena after 19 minutes had elapsed. Elia then smashed a crisp half volley past the helpless Padt following a Toornstra cross from the right before curling a well-placed strike into the top left hand corner from just inside the edge of the box on the stroke of half time.

Groningen offered little by way of attacking intent throughout the match and it came as little surprise when Elia completed his hat trick – tucking in the rebound after Padt had initially denied Vilhena on 56 minutes after which he left the stage with a dislocated finger – before new signing, Nicolai Jorgensen got off the mark for the Rotterdammers with his first goal in Feyenoord colours with seven minutes left to play.

It ended all square in Alkmaar where AZ and Heerenveen shared four goals. Markus Henriksen gave John van den Brom’s side the lead just after the half hour but the Frisian outfit – now under the guidance of former Willem II coach, Jurgen Streppel pegged the home side back through 21-year-old Swede, Arber Zeneli to send the sides in all square at the break.

Former Heracles striker, Wout Weghorst restored the home side’s advantage early in the second half – scoring a goal on his AZ debut from the penalty spot. However, the visitors responded once more with a strike from a former AZ player – Stijn Schaars ensuring the spoils were shared with eight minutes remaining.

After squeezing past PAOK in the Third Qualifying Round of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, Peter Bosz took his Ajax side to Het Kasteel in Rotterdam to face the second of the clubs to have won promotion to the Eredivisie for the 2016/17 season – Sparta.

A double by Ajax skipper Davy Klaassen was enough to secure passage through to the playoff round of the UEFA Champions League where the four-time European Cup winners will face the Russian side, Rostov for a place in the group stages of the tournament, and it was Klaassen again who popped up with a bullet header from an El Ghazi cross from the right to give his side the lead after just 5 minutes of play.

Alex Pastoor lead Sparta to the Eerste Divisie crown last term following six years in the wilderness and the new boys showed that they would be no push-overs this season when they pegged de Godenzonen back just three minutes later when a Sanusi free kick took a deflection from Gudelj to deceive Jasper Cillessen who fumbled the ball into the Ajax net.

However, Ajax weren’t to be denied and, despite the dismissal of Joel Veltman for two bookable offences with six minutes remaining, second half strikes by Daley Sinkgraven and Colombian, Mateo Cassierra ensured all three points went back to Amsterdam.

The first round of action was rounded out in Kerkrade, where Roda (under new coach, Yannis Anastasiou) and Heracles ended with honours even at the Parkstad Limburg Stadion – Czech, Jaroslav Navratil giving the home side the advantage just after the half hour mark before Adil Auassar equalised for the visitors with 18 minutes left to play.

RESULTS

NEC Nijmegen 1-1 PEC Zwolle

ADO Den Haag 3-0 Go Ahead Eagles

FC Utrecht 1-2 PSV Eindhoven

FC Twente 1-2 Excelsior

Willem II 1-4 Vitesse Arnhem

Groningen 0-5 Feyenoord

AZ Alkmaar 2-2 Heerenveen

Sparta Rotterdam 1-3 AFC Ajax

Roda JC 1- 1 Heracles

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FEATURE

Two Dutch Talents in Arnhem

February 2, 2015 Will Burns 2 Comments

There are two midfield talents in the Vitesse Arnhem team that could become Dutch internationals in the very near future, Davy Propper and Marko Vejinovic. Davy has already been called-up to the national team in the past and Marko could very well be just a few months away from his first call.

This Vitesse team has utilised a very sensible 4-3-3 formation for the first half of the season and frankly they should have achieved much more than they actually did. The team has some talented, skilful players who pass the ball very well and two of the most impressive of the lot are Davy and Marko says Rion Rodgers.

Marko Veijnovic, 24

Let me start by saying that I think Marko Veijnovic is the “real deal”. This man has everything to play at a much higher level than Vitesse. He is physically strong, has good technique and delivers very accurate set pieces. I particularly love to see his rampaging direct runs through the centre of the park towards the edge of the eighteen yard box. These runs usual culminate with a fierce shot at goal or a deft final pass to a teammate. Eight league goals and five assists so far this season says there is certainly some potential in this guy.

In fact, I see him as Ronald Koeman’s eventual successor for Morgan Schneiderlin. Am I crazy? Why Veijnovic? Why not Clasie? Well, I truly see this guy as having great potential as a strong, quick, smart and technically sound central midfielder. He has been the fulcrum of the Arnhem team’s midfield this season. Marko loves to break up plays in the middle of the field and constantly harasses oppositions using his tall strong frame, much like Morgan does for Southampton. Add his ability to keep the ball quite well to his impressive array of passing and one can see why I think he is made for the Premier League.

It is also worth noting that Marko is a multi-functional player who is very adept at numerous positions. During his Heracles days we saw him played all three midfield positions as well as centre back, full-back and striker.

If there is one flaw in this man’s game, it is that he isn’t the most agile of players. This is potentially due to his physical size. However, it has decidedly not posed too many limitations to his effectiveness.

Davy Propper, 24

Davy Propper is another midfielder with great qualities. He is physically strong, very intelligent, can score great goals and technically sound. This boy was seen as a huge talent in Arnhem before Marco Van Ginkel even broke into a regular first team spot. However, persistent injuries curtailed his rate of progression, while Van Ginkel was making serious strides. Today Van Ginkel is playing at a huge European club, while Davy still plies his trade in the modest confines of Arnhem. Nevertheless, he is on an upward trajectory and will quite possibly make it into one of Europe’s bigger leagues at the end of this Eredivisie season.

There is some amount of debate about what is Davy’s best position. Some people say he is best at the number 10 position, but having watched him since his debut for Vitesse, I am convinced he is more of a box-to-box midfielder. He can certainly do a decent job as a number 10, but his physicality, work rate and passing range makes him quite suitable to play just a little bit ahead of the holding midfielder. I however, believe that If he were a little faster and had better dribbling skills, then he could be a great number 10.

In conclusion, these two blokes will most likely be quite useful for the Dutch National team in the future. To what extent, is hard to say now. The road of a footballer is one made up of a myriad of dips and bends, and sadly some young players do not negotiate their way ahead with the kind of dexterity and determination that is required. One thing is for sure, we should all keep the proverbial eye on these two for the next season or two.

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NEWS, TRANSFERS

Labyad glad to return to the Eredivisie

January 9, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Vitesse Arnhem, chasing their first ever Eredivisie title, have further reinforced their midfield with the loan signing of former PSV midfielder Zakaria Labyad.

The young Moroccan international joins from Sporting Lisbon on a 18-month loan deal, after failing to make an impact in the Portuguese Primeira Liga.

Labyad, 20, has only appeared in 20 games for Sporting since signing a five-year contract in Lisbon on a free transfer from PSV Eindhoven in July 2012.

Eager to return to the Eredivisie, Labyad spoke to Voetbal International: “I am very happy and relieved that I return home to the Netherlands.

“I am very glad at the thought that I can once again, I can spend every day with my friends and family. I am ready to play and I hope to be selected quickly.”

Labyad could make his first appearance when Peter Bosz’s side travel to PEC Zwolle next Saturday evening.

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NEWS, TRANSFERS

Vitesse capture another Chelsea loanee

January 2, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Vitesse Arnhem have loaned yet another Chelsea youngster to help their charge in the Eredivisie title race.

The 18-year-old Burkina Faso international, Bertrand Traoré, whom signed for Chelsea officially on January 1st, barely had time to unpack his bags as Blues boss Jose Mourinho has sent the midfielder onto the GelreDome until the end of the season.

A statement on the ChelseaFC.com said: “Traoré signed for Chelsea following a successful trial period with the club during the summer, and now heads to the Netherlands to gain first-team experience. Traoré will link up with a Vitesse side which is currently second in the Eredivisie, on the same points as leaders Ajax.”

Two further Chelsea youngsters on loan at Vitesse, English central defender Sam Hutchinson and French wideman Gaël Kakuta, have not made an impact in Arnhem so far this season and have been recalled to London.

WHO IS BERTRAND TRAORÉ?

Born in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso in his home country of Burkina Faso, Traoré joined Chelsea’s youth academy in 2011 after making his international debut at just 15 years old.

Mourinho was impressed with the youngster after viewing his performances in youth matches, and decided to take him on the club’s pre-season tour of Asia. Traoré went on to star in three games of the tour, scoring twice and was a stand-out performer as the Londoners strolled to a 4-1 friendly win against a Singha All Stars XI in July.

Chelsea’s main struggle was obtaining a work permit for him – entering the UK on a student visa, the Blues had to wait until Traoré was 18 to meet the legal criteria.

In Asia, he was featured out wide, although he will possibly star as central attacking midfielder for Vitesse.

Although, he has been known to have problems with fitness levels at time-to-time, Traoré’s use of the ball is his main plus point. A very proficient passer with great range, he is not afraid to take an opponent on and burn him for pace. He will also often sting the goalkeepers’ gloves with fierce shots from long range.

Vitesse have once again picked up a great talent from Mourinho’s side, and expect the Burkina Faso international to be a success like his Chelsea team-mates Lucas Piazón and Christian Atsu have so far in Arnhem this season.

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE WEEKS 7 & 8 ROUND-UP

September 29, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

As our head writer Will Burns was away on holiday the past two weekends he was unable to keep up on the Eredivisie reports. He returns with a quick round-up of the past two matchdays in the Dutch top flight.

The new leaders in the division are PSV Eindhoven on the back of a huge 4-0 win over fierce rivals Ajax. Frank de Boer’s defending champions tasted their biggest defeat on their since April 2009 when PSV put six past them. After a goal-less first half it was not until 53 mins when the floodgates opened. Slovenian striker Tim Matavz opened the floodgates in the 53rd minute following a mistake by Amsterdam goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer and then Jetro Willems, Oscar Hiljemark and Park Ji-Sung struck in rapid succession to finish off the visitors. It was a bad week for de Boer who suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat in the Nou Camp against Barcelona the previous Wednesday.

The weekend after, the Eindhoven suffered their first defeat of the Eredivisie season losing 2-1 away to AZ Alkmaar. The league leaders fell behind in the 21st minute when an unmarked Nick Viergever headed in from a corner kick. Memphis Depay went close to levelling the score five minutes later, he fired a strike wide, via the fingertips of the keeper. However, Depay was not to be denied the equaliser, with the 19-year-old on target in the 35th minute with a wonderfully hit free-kick. However, the hosts went ahead in the 57th minute, through a stunning strike from Aron Johannsson. PSV remain top despite the defeat as AZ move up to third in the table.

After receiving the thumping from PSV on matchday 7, Ajax dished out a demolition of their own hitting Go Ahead Eagles for six. De Boer’s side desperately needed a response after their 4-0 mauling and duly delivered a morale-boosting performance. Like a week earlier, Ajax went into the break goal-less but a 48th-minute Jop van der Linden own goal opening the scoring. Young winger Lesley De Sa made it two in the 50th minute while Icelandic striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson’s quickfire brace complete a spell of four goals in five minutes. It was 5-0 when Lerin Duarte fired home in the 64th minute while Siem De Jong completed the scoring with 21 minutes remaining as Ajax moved into second place, level on 14 points with PEC Zwolle, who were held to a 0-0 draw at home to NAC Breda.

A week earlier Zwolle had slumped to a second successive defeat, going down 3-0 at Vitesse. On-loan Chelsea attacker Lucas Piazon scored twice for the Arnhem side, with his goals in the 35th and 88th minutes sandwiching a strike from Kelvin Leerdam.

Feyenoord continued their improved form with a 1-0 home win over FC Utrecht, Tonny Vilhena netting the only goal 10 minutes before half-time, while NAC Breda beat AZ Alkmaar 3-0. Danny Verbeek, Rydell Poepon and Elson Hooi all struck second-half goals for NAC who have now won back-to-back matches and scored eight times in the process having started the season with three defeats and two draws.

WEEK 7 RESULTS

Friday 20th September

GO AHEAD EAGLES 0-0 CAMBUUR

Saturday 21st September

HERACLES 0-3 FC TWENTE

FC GRONINGEN 4-1 RKC WAALWIJK

ADO DEN HAAG 1-1 NEC NIJMEGEN

RODA JC 3-3 HEERENVEEN

Sunday 22nd September

VITESSE 3-0 PEC ZWOLLE

FEYENOORD 1-0 FC UTRECHT

NAC BREDA 3-0 AZ ALKMAAR

PSV EINDHOVEN 4-0 AJAX

WEEK 8 RESULTS

Saturday 28th September

AZ ALKMAAR 2-1 PSV EINDHOVEN

RKC WAALWIJK 1-4 HERACLES

FC UTRECHT 3-3 RODA JC

PEC ZWOLLE 0-0 NAC BREDA

AJAX 6-0 GO AHEAD EAGLES

Sunday 29th September

NEC NIJMEGEN 2-3 VITESSE

HEERENVEEN 2-1 CAMBUUR

FEYENOORD 4-2 ADO DEN HAAG

FC TWENTE 5-0 FC GRONINGEN

STANDINGS

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE REPORT: Sunday 11th August 2013

August 11, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

WEEK 2 – Sunday 11th August 2013

PSV Eindhoven will be celebrating tonight after title rivals Ajax and Feyenoord both tasted defeats just two weeks into the new season. Another great day for goals in the Eredivisie and Will Burns is here to describe them all.

FEYENOORD 1-4 FC TWENTE

The first game of the season at De Kuip and as always the crowd was jumping, well that was before the game. After the final whistle the supporters were leaving hanging their heads in shame. Feyenoord finished the match with just nine men on the field and Twente had defeated them by four goals to one, ending a 28-match unbeaten streak in Rotterdam.

The hosts went ahead after half an hour with their usual source to goals, Italian Graziano Pelle heading in at the front post from a Jordy Clasie out-swinging corner.

Twente hit back from the kick-off and fired a warning shot when former Feyenoord striker Luc Castaignos smashed a shot at Erwin Mulder’s goal that rattled the crossbar, and the woodwork had saved Koeman’s men.

They did not take heed of the warning as a minute later the scores were level and it was another former De Kuip man who scored the goal. Kyle Ebecilio recently signing on a free from Premier League club Arsenal kept his cool to finish inside the area, after a scramble.

With usual right-back Daryl Janmaat injured, the young Jordy van Deelen was making his first start for the club and midway through the second half he made a fatal mistake. Failing to get ahead of Shadrach Eghan, he pulled the Ghanaian midfielder down in the box and referee Richard Liesveld pointed to the spot and dismissed the debutant. As the rookie was trudging off the field, Dusan Tadic stepped up and slotted home the spot-kick to give Twente the lead.

Nine minutes later, Feyenoord lost another defender to the red card. Stefan de Vrij who had stupidly been booked midway through the first-half for diving in on a tackle he had no business is challenging for in the opposition’s half, did the same again on Castaignos inside the centre circle.

Twente’s attacking left-back Dico Koppers, a recent buy from Ajax in the summer, won a penalty surging into the box and being felled by Joris Mathijsen. Mathijsen received a yellow and Tadic converted his second penalty of the match.

The game was done but Twente weren’t finished as Castaignos and Tadic combined on the edge of the box and the former finished clinically to make the day worse for the Rotterdam fans.

Pressure will be on Koeman now, his team was tipped to be title challengers, but are now already six points off the top spot. The two defeats in two equals their worst start since the 1963/64 season, fifty years ago.

AZ ALKMAAR 2-3 AJAX

Last years’ Eredivisie champions Ajax took a major blow in the defence of their title as AZ Alkmaar gained revenge for last month’s Johan Crujiff Schaal match, and ended their fifteen match unbeaten run with a 3-2 victory on Sunday afternoon.

Frank de Boer’s men did take the lead on 20 minutes with a wonderful free-kick from Danish playmaker Christian Eriksen. From around 25 yards out, he lifted the ball superbly over the wall, spinning low into the goal past Esteban Alvarado, leaving the Costa Rican goalkeeper helpless.

The home side were level before half-time due to some bad goalkeeping by Dutch international Kenneth Vermeer. Trying to punch the ball away in a battle with Viktor Elm but flapped miserably and the ball fell in the path of Roy Beerens to poke home.

De Boer must have been furious with his goalkeeper so much that he replaced him at half-time with Jasper Cillessen. The Amsterdammers regained the lead on the hour mark but Siem de Jong delightfully finishing a Bojan cross, but it was poor defending from AZ as the Oranje midfielder was all alone to score.

Then disaster struck for Ajax five minutes later. Right-back Ricardo van Rhijn pulled down Nick Viergever in the penalty area and received his marching orders. The new American international Aron Jóhannsson’s spot-kick hit the back of the net and the reigning league champions were on the ropes.

Shortly after his entrance substitute Maarten Martens was invaluable for AZ, his beautiful pin-point cross found Elm unmarked at the back post, who placed a superb first-time volley into the back of the net.

It was a fantastic win for Gertjan Verbeek and the fans inside the AFAS Stadion but will probably be celebrated more by PSV coach Philip Cocu, whose side are already three points ahead of their rivals after just two games.

HIGHLIGHTS

FC GRONINGEN 2-0 FC UTRECHT

Although less convincing than last week in Nijmegen, FC Groningen won their second game of the season. Utrecht, going through a real bad spell at the moment, fell 2-0 in the Euroborg Stadion, thanks to goals from Nick van der Velden and SIXTEEN-year-old Richairo Živkovic.

For those who had not taken their seat when the opening whistle was blown by referee Dennis Higler, they may have missed his second whistle too, when he blew for a penalty kick. Utrecht’s captain Mark van der Maarel fouling Filip Kostic and Van der Velden took advantage of the spot-kick.

FC Groningen pressed throughout but did not double the score until 71st minute. After Robbin Ruiter parried a Van der Velden shot, the young Živkovic, brought on as a substitute just five minutes earlier, cooly converted a rebound. This was his second goal in two games after playing a total of just 12 minutes of play this season so far.

RKC WAALWIJK 4-2 VITESSE

After crashing out of Europe on Thursday, Vitesse travelled to Waalwijk to turn their attention back to the league where they defeated Heracles 3-1 last Sunday.

Within three minutes, it looked good for them as Kelvin Leerdam headed home at the front post from a Theo Janssen corner. Going forward, it was clear to see that the visitors were pressing a lot better than Thursday’s night’s defeat to FC Petrolul but defensively they looked dodgy. Patrick van Aanholt especially, getting caught out and minutes after the goal, contributing to what could have been an equaliser.

The Chelsea man and Jan-Arie van der Heijden passing around in their own penalty area and Luxembourg international striker Aurélien Joachim caught them out and had a glorious chance to put RKC level, but poorly placed his shot wide.

On 12 minutes, RKC were level. Some tremendous work from Romeo Castelen turning Van Aanholt inside out on the right-wing and crossing for Robert Braber to finish coolly.

Before half-time, Castelen himself got on the scoresheet and put RKC in the lead. Peter Jungschläger dinked a lovely ball over the defence and Castelen ran on to score his first goal in the Eredivisie for six years. The former Feyenoord winger had spells him Russia and Germany since leaving the Rotterdam club.

Vitesse boss Peter Bosz had to turn this around and replaced Van Aanholt and Giorgi Chanturia for Davy Propper and Valeri Qazaishvili. On the 54th minute mark, Qazaishvili scored the equaliser.

At that moment, the Arnhem side may have took the draw but RKC were not and two goals in as many minutes from Sander Duits sent Vitesse and their fans home miserable.

STANDINGS

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NEWS, TRANSFERS

“Daddy Cool” leaves for Swansea

July 11, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

Last season’s Eredivisie top scorer Wilfried Bony have joined English Premier League side Swansea City for a cliub record £12m, subject to a work permit.

The Ivorian striker, signs a four-year contract with the Welsh club and leaves Vitesse Arnhem after two seasons in Holland. He was the Eredivisie’s top goalscorer last season scoring 31 goals in 30 league appearances. In total at Vitesse, he has notched an impressive 46 goals in 65 games.

In an interview with Swansea’s official website, Bony stated: “The move has been talked about for quite some time, so I am delighted it is all completed. Now it is important that I focus my mind on the challenge ahead because I hope to make the Swansea fans very happy.

“I watched Swansea a lot last season on TV. They have some good players and I like the way they play. I appreciate the style, which is similar to the Dutch way, and I think being at Swansea will help me develop as a player.

“I believe it’s the right step for me; the perfect move. I had a lot of offers from all across the world, including England, France, Ukraine, Russia and the UAE.

“But I chose Swansea because it is a good club with a corresponding style, a great manager and, of course, playing in the Premier League. I considered everything and Swansea came out on top.’’

The pacy and powerful Bony was named Dutch Footballer of the Year for 2012-13 and had spells at Issia Wazi, in his homeland, and in the Czech league with Sparta Prague before arriving in Holland to join Vitesse in January 2011.

The transfer leaves Vitesse now wondering how they will replace their two major stars that fired them up to fourth place last year in the Eredivisie. Marco van Ginkel joined Chelsea last week and now with top scorer Bony joining him the Premier League, one wonders where the Arnhem club look to find replacements.

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NEWS, TRANSFERS

Van Ginkel signs for Chelsea

July 4, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

English Premier League side Chelsea have signed highly-rated midfielder Marco van Ginkel from Vitesse Arnhem. The transfer is worth a reported £8m.

The 20-year-old Dutch international has become new Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho’s second signing of the summer after the arrival of German international Andre Schurrle.

A short statement on Chelsea’s website said: “Chelsea Football Club and Vitesse Arnhem have reached an agreement for the transfer of Marco van Ginkel. The player will join Chelsea subject to a medical, agreement of personal terms and legal documentation.”

20-year-old Van Ginkel joined Vitesse at just seven years old and has progressed through their academy. He made his Eredivisie debut for the club on 9th April 2010 replacing Nicky Hofs in the 67th minute as the Arnhem club fell to a 4–1 defeat to RKC Waalwijk.

The midfielder made his international debut against Germany in a 0-0 draw last November and was included in the Jomng Oranje squad for the recent Under-21 European Championships in Israel.

He was a regular last season and emerged as one of Vitesse’s star performers as the team secured a fourth placed finish in the Eredivisie.

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE REPORT: Week 29 – Saturday 6th April 2013

April 6, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

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

Willem II 1 (Peters 54)

PSV Eindhoven 3 (Van Bommel 45+1, Toivonen 76, Derijck 82)

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.

HIGHLIGHTS