In the most eagerly awaited Saturday game, FC Utrecht further dashed the hopes of Ronald Koeman‘s AZ Alkmaar as they inflicted what was to be AZ’s third Eredivisie defeat in as many matches, a single goal from defender Keller being enough to seal the 1-0 win for the home team. AZ lost touch with the top clubs in the table thanks to this loss.
The stadium of Sparta Rotterdam, Het Kasteel ("the Castle")
No such drama in Eindhoven, where PSV cruised to a comfortable win over unfancied Willem II, thanks mainly to three first half goals which saw the Brabanders run out 3-1 victors. And this despite the decision of manager Rutten to give five players who had fallen out of favour a run-out. FC Twente, for their part, kept up the pressure at the top of the table with a workmanlike 2-1 home win over VVV Venlo, which also means the team from Enschede remain undefeated both in the domestic and European competitions this season so far.
In the remaining Saturday match, rock-bottom RKC Waalwijk notched up their first win and points in the league with a rather surprising 4-1 in Waalwijk against Roda JC Kerkrade. Indeed, the third goal represented a doubling of their total ‘goals for’ column amount from the previous seven games.
On Sunday, Feyenoord managed to avoid any disasters in Breda, as they eased to a 0-2 victory. Still undefeated away from home, the Rotterdammers did no more than was necessary. The atmosphere of triumph was, however, rather deflated by a bizarre incident. The travelling Feyenoord fans refused en masse to take up their seats in a part of the stadium with restricted viewing capability and Manager Mario Been almost refused to play the game with – as he saw it – a reduced chance of winning due to lack of away team support. Luckily for him (as it turned out), he relented at the last moment to avoid problems with the Dutch football association.
Ajax had a tough first half as in-form ADO from the Hague played a spirited game in the Amsterdam ArenA but the Amsterdammers were ultimately too strong and put a decent 3-0 on the scoreboard. A big plus for Ajax this season has been the improvement in defence where weaknesses have cost them dear in previous campaigns. They have only conceded goals in two of the eight games played so far.
Heracles Almelo had only managed one point out of their last five visits to Nijmegen so they were delighted with their 0-2 away victory on this occasion. They sustain their upward march in what is turning out to be a surprisingly good season for them.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the table it’s still dog eat dog. SC Heereveen managed only their second win (0-2) of the season and as it was achieved away at fellow-strugglers Sparta Rotterdam in het Kasteel (“the Castle”, see photo), the neutral observer might say that was impressive. However, they still look far from the successful near-the-top team of the last few seasons. At least this win avoided the chance of a fifth defeat in a row for them, which is the club record to date.
FC Groningen continued their winning ways and eased back towards the middle of the table with a 1-0 home win over visiting Vitesse Arnhem. The victory was more deserved than it may sound as the Groningers hit the bar twice and missed a penalty as they showed a hunger to succeed.
Standings
After eight games, PSV and Twente lead the way on 20 points each with Ajax one point behind. Feyenoord are a further two points behind followed by Utrecht another point further down but with one game in hand. AZ have lost touch with the top and are four points adrift of Utrecht. Heracles are one behind them and two points further down are ADO and NAC in 8th and 9th positions on 10 points. Then there is a whole raft of teams on 8 points spanning 10th to 15th place: NEC, Vitesse, VVV, Groningen, Sparta and Roda. Finally, at the bottom with seven, six and three points are Heereveen, Willem II and the no longer ‘pointless’ RKC Waalwijk.
Next week: On Wednesday, NEC host Utrecht, then on Friday it’s Vitesse who host Sparta. On the Saturday, Feyenoord should scoop the points at home to RKC, AZ face a tricky tie when NAC go to Alkmaar, NEC travel to Tilburg to play Willem II and ADO play Groningen in the Hague. The pick of the Sunday games has to be in the Galgewaard, where Utrecht host PSV. Twente travel to Almelo for a tough confrontation with Heracles, Heereveen fight it out against visiting fellow-strugglers VVV and lastly, Ajax will fancy their chances away to Roda.
Tags: Eredivisie, football
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