This past Sunday saw a bout of horrible slushy, sleety weather in most of Holland and this of course resulted in some ‘interesting’ games as the the top four were all in action.
Flag of the Alkmaar 'flairmasters'
PSV had a routine job: take all three points at home against visitors Sparta from Rotterdam. Toivinnen opened the scoring for PSV early on with a fine finish from a Dzudzak cross. As you would expect, PSV were dominating possession and creating good chances but not converting them. The second half carried on in the same manner although John from Sparta did have a chance at the equaliser a few minutes from time during a rare counter move. Then just when you thought it was all over, a fine cross from John was headed in by Poepon for a shock 1-1 result.
Willem II sacked their manager before the match against FC Twente in Enschede. Twente were already on a run of 24 games undefeated and this game was not their toughest on paper. The first half was a stuffy affair with Twente making most of the play but the nearest they got was a failed penalty claim a few minutes from the break. The Enschede outfit rectified matters with an early second-half goal but were soon thankful to their goalkeeper Bosckher for a couple of good saves to deny the Tilburgs an undeserved equaliser. It ended 1-0 for Steve McLaren’s Twente.
Ajax welcomed Vitesse Arnhem to the ArenA in Amsterdam in a game the Amsterdammers also expected to win. After top scorer Suárez had missed a couple of good chances, it was de Jong who got the opener after a sweet interplay between the Ajax forwards. Suárez himself was next to cash in, getting the second after a goalmouth scramble. After 25 minutes, an own goal made it 3-0 and the result was no longer in doubt. De Jong added another early in the second half after Suárez had hit the woodwork for the third time, leaving manager Martin Jol smiling broadly at the 4-0 score at full time.
Fourth placed Feyenoord were in the same situation as the other three toppers: at home to weaker opposition, this time in the form of ADO from The Hague. But an own goal from van Bronckhorst soon tested the home fans’ optimism before Reinalda fired home a lovely drive for the equaliser. In the second half, Feyenoord finally took one of their many chances as Tomasson fired in a rebound from a Makaay shot. But the drama was kept till the dying seconds when ADO controversially got the ball in the net in a last desperate move and grabbed an unexpected point from the Rotterdammers as it finished 2-2.
Elsewhere, AZ Alkmaar threw away a 1-3 lead against VVV as the home team in Venlo came back to draw 3-3 in an exciting encounter. Utrecht demolished NAC in Breda, running out 0-2 winners and Groningen also impressed in their 0-2 away win at NEC.
Heereveen visited bottom club RKC in Waalwijk and thanks to a late penalty claimed all three points in a 1-2 victory. Roda played at home in Krekrade against Heracles Almelo and a thrilling encounter resulted in a 2-1 win for the home side.
Standings
PSV remain first on 61 points, with Twente one point behind. Six points further behind it’s Ajax in third and Feyeonoord fourth but a full eleven points behind Ajax. AZ follow another eight points behind on 36 in joint sixth with Utrecht and Heracles. Groningen are three behind them on 33 with NAC and that completes the top half of the table. At the bottom it is still RKC on 12, five behind Willem II with ADO, Vitesse and Sparta just above them completing the list of relegation-haunted clubs.
Next week: Bottom plays top as RKC travel to PSV, Twente host NEC, Ajax have a tough home game against Utrecht and Feyenoord travel north to play Groningen. Elsewhere, AZ go to Vitesse, Heereveen host Heracles, Sparta welcome NAC, Willem II play VVV and Roda meet ADO in the Hague.
Tags: Eredivisie, football
