This was the week that PSV finally relented in their nearly error-free chase for the title. And it was of course FC Twente who were only too willing to take advantage with a hard-fought 0-1 away victory at bottom-anchored RKC Waalwijk, a second half goal from ex-AZ stalwart Kenneth Perez doing the trick for Steve McLaren’s Enschede outfit, who now stand alone at the top on 67 points.
Part of the striking NAC emblem
Despite dominating the action in Breda, PSV Eindhoven came out on the wrong end of a 2-1 home win for NAC. PSV head coach Rutte was not slow in amazingly blaming the refereeing team for the defeat but PSV had taken the lead before being pegged back by the Breda men, Schilder grabbing the winner twenty minutes from time. An expensive loss for PSV as they lost top place to Twente whom they now trail by two points.
Ajax meanwhile kept up their challenge in their usual multi-goalled way with a comfortable 0-3 win at struggling Sparta Rotterdam, whose defence was probably as much to blame for the scoreline as Ajax’ front line was. Ajax remain third, four points behind PSV.
Feyenoord striker Sekou Cissé had been the subject of much criticism so far this year for his lack of contribution to the ‘goals for’ column. However, he had a change of heart in an entertaining duel at Kerkrdade against Roda JC which saw him bang in a quick double to give the Feyenoorders a 0-2 lead by the hour mark. Veteran Roy Makaay also got in on the goalfest with the fourth ten minutes from time. Feyenoord lie in an undisputed fourth spot admittedly a full eleven points behind Ajax but more encouragingly also eight points above fifth-placed AZ Alkmaar who also enjoyed a good scoring performance as they ran out 4-1 winners at home against hapless Heereveen, who had had the temerity to open the scoring.
Heracles Almelo remain in sixth position after an exciting affair with visiting Willem II, who did much better than their lowly league standing would suggest. Heracles have now already harvested 42 points from this campaign which is their best-ever performance in the Eredivisie. After a goal from Everton in the 50th minute to make it 3-1 for the Almelo team, it looked all over but a late rally and goal from Sheotahul made for a tense finishing half hour. Almelo were quite rightly delighted after this 3-2 victory. How long can the good form continue?
A late goal from Ricky van Wolfswinkel gave FC Utrecht all three points in a 1-0 win over NEC Nijmegen, a victory which keeps them in seventh position, just three behind Heracles. Elsewhere, FC Groningen crept in to the top half of the table at last after a tough home win over VVV Venlo. The Groningers should have had it all wrapped up by half time but were fortunately not punished for their misses by the men from Nijmegen. In the Hague, home team ADO shared the points and goals with Vitesse in a 1-1 draw which does little for either team leaguewise.
Next week: Twente look for all three points in a home encounter with ADO The Hague and will be hoping for a helpful outcome from PSV’s tough visit to Ajax in the game of the weekend. Another exciting game will be in Rotterdam where Feyenoord host Heracles. Meanwhile, AZ should do the business against bottom club RKC, Utrecht travel to VVV, NAC host Groningen, Roda go to NEC, Vitesse welcome Heereveen and Sparta go to Willem II for a relegation battle.
Tags: Eredivisie, football
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