So, the boots have all been taken out of the lockers again, snow cleared from a few of the pitches and memories of the winter break and Christmas festivities are already a fading image for the Eredivisie players. It was back to business with a short list of matches which were postponed from earlier rounds, a kind of ‘catch-up’ day to ease the Eredivisie back into its weekly rhythms gently.
Flag featuring the logo of FC Twente
In the shock of the day, FC Twente at last dropped points. A rather boring 0-0 draw resulted from the visit to FC Utrecht with the most memorable moment being the sending off of Twente’s Wout Brama in injury time at the end of the match. This means PSV can go equal on points with Twente if they win their midweek match against Roda JC in Kerkrade.
Ajax meanwhile were also held to a draw in Breda by NAC, both goals of the 1-1 score coming in the first half. This was a distinct improvement for NAC as they were cuffed 6-0 in the first match between the two earlier this season at the ArenA.
In the only other match, NEC did well to defeat visiting Vitesse in Nijmegen by 2-1. Arnhem is close enough to Nijmegen for the press here to call this a derby and even if the football was far from scintillating, it was the first time NEC had won a league match since the middle of September last year! The ref was, however, kept busy as he dished out eight yellow cards in a match dominated by fouls.
Midweek: PSV play Roda in Kerkrade on Tuesday and a day later the Northern derby is hosted by Groningen as they play Fresian neighbours Heereveen in the last of the catch-up matches for round 18.
Next week: in the first full round of matches for 2010, Twente travel to Groningen, PSV host NEC, Ajax play AZ at the ArenA and Feyenoord visit VVV Venlo. Elsewhere, Heracles welcome Vitesse, Utrecht go to Roda, RKC host NAC, Sparta face ADO The Hague in Rotterdam and Willem II travel to Heereveen.
Tags: Eredivisie, football
