Kicking off the matches on Friday were Vitesse Arnhem with a good 2-0 home victory over Sparta Rotterdam. The Arnhemmers move up to seventh spot as a result.
The ArenA, home of Ajax Amsterdam
On the Saturday, AZ Alkmaar finally managed to buck their three-game losing trend with a slim 1-0 home win over mid-table NAC Breda. However, Ronald Koman’s Alkmaarders were far from convincing and they still have a long way to go to get back to the levels of last season.
Feyenoord ran out 3-0 winners over bottom club RKC Waalwijk but again the key word was unconvincing, mainly due to RKC’s good organisation which unfortunately deserted them at least three times. In Tilburg, Willem II hosted NEC Nijmegen and shared the points and two goals with them in a 1-1 draw.
In a game of two halves in the Hague, a dull first period saw home team ADO lose a goal to visiting Groningen, only for this to be pegged back in an exciting second half by an own goal for ADO. ADO will count this as two points dropped, as they controlled much of the match.
The top game of the weekend was on the Sunday, when FC Utrecht hosted leaders PSV Eindhoven. The home team failed to take advantage of chance after chance as the game ended in a 0-0 draw. PSV goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson was the star on the day.
Steven McLaren’s FC Twente took advantage of PSV’s poor form to take over first place in the Eredivisie. They enjoyed a 1-3 away win in the derby with neighbours Heracles Almelo but the score was no reflection on the standard of football from Twente. Meanwhile, Ajax were held to a 2-2 draw in Kerkrade by Roda JC and could count themselves lucky to salvage the one point despite leading scorer Suárez netting both the Amsterdam club’s goals.
SC Heereveen crept to a home 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers VVV Venlo as both teams remain trapped in the bottom nine.
Next match round: After a week off for the Euro 2010 qualifier internationals, leaders Twente host AZ in what should be a gripping game and PSV should take all the points against visiting Heereveen. Third-place Ajax face Willem II in the Amsterdam ArenA (see photo) and fourth spot holders Feyenoord travel a short distance to face their bitter city rivals Sparta. Groningen away will be Utrecht’s next test while Vitesse visit NAC. NEC host ADO and wooden spoon holders RKC welcome Heracles.
Tags: Eredivisie, football
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