Round 32 – summary
It was a tough week for the Eredivisie clubs. Midweek, they all had catch-up games to be played and given the stage of the season we have reached, these games were potentially banana peels for some of the top clubs. And so it proved for no-one less than current leaders, FC Twente, who at last lost a game. AZ beat them 1-0 in Alkmaar to throw Steve McLaren’s plans of a title up in the air. Ajax made full use of their opportunity as they swept Willem II away in Tilburg, 0-2 for the Amsterdam outfit, a result which put them just one behind Twente. PSV dropped two points in a 1-1 draw in Heerenveen, Feyenoord won the Rotterdam derby with Sparta, 3-0, Heracles jumped to sixth spot with a fine 4-1 win over RKC while Utrecht dropped back to seventh after a 1-1 home draw with Groningen.
So only one point in it at the top as we head into round 33, with PSV ‘doomed’ to third place.
Round 33
Logo of Sparta Rotterdam
FC Twente had the difficult prospect of a visit from Feyenoord Rotterdam as they felt the pressure to win to stay ahead of Ajax in case Ajax also won. Twente dominated proceedings throughout and scored goals either side of half-time through N’Kufo and Stoch – only two amongst multiple chances – which proved enough to gain the three points needed, the 2-0 rather flattering the visiting Rotterdammers. So now Twente just have to win their last match to ensure that the title goes to Enschede.
Ajax meanwhile took on Heracles at the ArenA in Amsterdam. On a perfect sunny day for football, the early honours went to Ajax as de Jong passed up on a couple of good chances. He made up for that with a fine headed goal from close range on 20 minutes and eight minutes before the break, the same man added another from a tight angle header after good work from Suárez. With Heracles only offering the odd counter, Ajax slowed the tempo in the second half. Despite this, it didn’t take long for Pantelic to add a third with a lob over the keeper. He got another just after the hour mark to make it 4-0 for the Amsterdammers. The ArenA crowd were in fine spirits early on thanks to the early goals but became more sombre as they heard the score coming through from Enschede.
PSV welcomed Groningen for a game where the visitors had more to play for than the Eindhoven outfit, who are already qualified for Europe. It certainly looked that way after three minutes and a defensive blunder from PSV which allowed Matavz to blast home from close range to open the scoring for Groningen. But the home side hit back with a fine strike from debutant Labyad after 25 minutes and two minutes after the break, Dzsudzsak added another from a free kick. With a few minutes left on the clock, Labyad scored the killer goal to wrap up a fine 3-1 home win for PSV.
AZ Alkmaar travelled to Tilburg to play Willem II and the home side went close a couple of times in the early stages until the form book was once adhered to as da Silva bagged the opener for AZ. The better chances in the second half were also for the Alkmaar team with the occasional effort on the break by Willem II. After 70 minutes, Holman added a second for AZ, soon followed by the final nail in the coffin from the foot of El Hamdaoui as AZ cruised to a 0-3 away win.
Vitesse took on Roda JC Kerkrade in Arnhem. Janssen opened the away team’s account after 4 minutes after some woeful defending, a feat repeated after ten minutes as Janssen added another for Roda, who were merely taking advantage of the room and respect given them by Vitesse. It became three after half an hour. At last the home team woke up and got on the scoreline minutes before the break. Minutes after the break, Vitesse scored again but after 70 minutes Juncker nudged Roda further ahead. The same player added another soon after to settle the scoreline at 2-5 for the Kerkrade outfit. An entertaining day in the sun for the travelling Roda fans.
Elsewhere, Sparta hosted Utrecht in Rotterdam. Utrecht took the lead early on and Sparta missed a penalty just before the break. Utrecht added two in the second half against an ineffective Sparta for a fine 0-3 victory. VVV took on NEC Nijmegen in Venlo and the home side looked good value for their 2-0 win which more importantly meant they would avoid the end-of-season relegation play-offs. Talking of which, ADO The Hague needed a win to keep their hopes up of avoiding the said play-offs as they faced already-relegated RKC Waalwijk. 2-0 up at half-time, the Hague team added two more after the break for a convincing 4-0 home win. The result also doomed Sparta to the relegation play-offs whilst ADO succeeded at last in avoiding them. And lastly, NAC had to win away against Heerenveen to stay in line for a chance at a Europa League spot. After a dull, goalless first half, Heerenveen missed a penalty but NAC lost a player to a red card in the same incident. It made no difference to the lack of quality on display as the game petered out in a 0-0 draw.
Standings
Twente have it in their hands with 83 points, one ahead of Ajax. PSV are third on 77 then there is a 16-point gap to fourth place AZ with 61, followed by Feyenoord in fifth with a point less. Heracles, on 53, are a point ahead of Utrecht and the top half of the table is completed by Groningen and NAC on 46. At the bottom, RKC are already relegated with Willem II and Sparta doomed to play in the relegation play-offs, which are also the promotion play-offs for the second and third teams in the second division.
Final game round: The final games of the season are all played on one day and this will not happen next weekend, but the weekend thereafter, next week being reserved for a cup final. Twente know they will be champions with a win away at NAC, while Ajax go to NEC where they have to win and hope that Twente drop points. AZ face up to PSV in Alkmaar in what could be an attractive game and Feyenoord host Heerenveen in the Kuip. Heracles play ADO, Groningen face visitors Sparta, Willem II travel to Roda, VVV go to Waalwijk to play RKC while Utrecht welcome Vitesse.
Tags: Eredivisie, football
