It was a not a weekend for the sensationalists as there were not so many great upsets or shocks as expected, just professional performances from the top of the table mob. Of the top five, only Utrecht dropped points and they remain fifth.
Willem II's stadium in Tilburg
FC Twente kept up their impressive run of results with a comfortable 3-1 win over NAC Breda, the latter managing to go into the lead before half time before being clawed back and overtaken by McLaren’s men in the second half, which included another goal from top scorer Ruiz, who was scoring for the tenth match in a row!
PSV Eindhoven meanwhile kept up the heat on Twente as they had perhaps the hardest game of the leaders against last year’s title holders, AZ Alkmaar. AZ lost their top player El Hamdaoui to a red card twenty minutes from time while it was still 0-0. But it was PSV who kept their heads as Toivonen headed home minutes from time. It was the first home win for the Eindhoven outfit over AZ in four seasons.
In a rather drab affair at the ArenA in Amsterdam, Ajax ran out easy 3-0 winners against lowly NEC Nijmegen, including a late contribution from Eredivisie top scorer Suárez, who has now notched up some 18 goals and it’s not even Christmas yet…
Feyenoord travelled to Friesland to face SC Heereveen and did a professional job in grabbing all three points with a 0-2 victory in a match which had periods of good play and goals from Hofland and Tomasson for the Rotterdammers.
An improving Vitesse welcomed Utrecht in Arnhem where the cathedral city men met their match and had to settle for no more than a 2-2 draw despite leading the Arnhemmers for most of the second half (1-2) before a late equaliser from Claudemir gave the Northerners a share of the points.
It was never going to be easy for ADO in the Hague as they hosted visitors Heracles from Almelo, and Heracles continued their good form as they ran up an impressive 1-4 away scoreline in the capital. Despite the score, the home team gave their all in an exciting second period but lack of firepower again did for them eventually.
Elsewhere, VVV Venlo heaped more troubles on bottom team RKC from Waalwijk with an easy 3-0 win and FC Groningen finally went up gear with a deserved 2-4 away win at Sparta in Rotterdam. And lastly, lowly Willem II allowed visitors Roda JC Kerkrade to jump three points ahead of them as Roda ran up a 1-3 victory in Tilburg.
Standings
Again, not much change at the top as we get ready for the Christmas period. Twente are on 47 points, two ahead of PSV and nine ahead of third placed Ajax. Feyenoord follow at four points distance and there are now ten points between fifth and ninth placed Utrecht, Heracles, AZ, NAC and VVV. At the bottom RKC’s woes did not increase too much as many of the bottom half teams lost as well. They remain four behind NEC and five behind Willem II and ADO.
Next week: Twente travel to Utrecht, PSV face a toughie away at Roda, Ajax face NAC in Breda and Feyenoord host Willem II. Heracles welcome VVV, ADO travel to AZ, NEC are at home to Vitesse and Sparta head off to RKC. In the North, it’s the derby in Groningen with Heereveen hoping to win the bragging rights.
Tags: Eredivisie, football
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