Ajax lived up to the expectations in ‘De Klassieker’ and defeated a powerless Feyenoord 2-0 when the Eredivisie returned to action after the winter break.
Despite the absence of the injured Urby Emanuelson, Mounir El Hamdaoui and the suspended Luis Suarez Ajax did not encounter any troubles facing Feyenoord in ‘De Klassieker’ on Wednesday. Thanks to a ferocious long range shot by Toby Alderweireld (31’) and a converted spot-kick by Miralem Sulejmani (77’) the home team won 2-0 in Amsterdam.
FC Twente closed in on PSV with a convincing 5-0 win against neighbours Heracles Almelo in the postponed derby on Wednesday. The gap between the second ranked title holders and the current league leaders is only one point.
Björn Vleminckx handed NEC a point in Alkmaar on Wednesday: 2-2. The Belgian striker, who did not get a transfer to Club Brugge because he was too expensive, was worth every euro for NEC against AZ.
FC Utrecht grabbed its 500th victory in the Eredivisie on Wednesday and became the seventh Dutch club to reach this milestone. The club defeated VVV-Venlo 2-1 on Wednesday. Atilla Yildirim scored the winner in the final minute. The twenty-year-old striker made his Eredivisie debut when he came on for Frank Demouge in the 78th minute.
Demouge opened the score line in the 37th minute, but Ken Leemans equalized only one minute later. Before halftime VVV were left with ten men because of a Niels Fleuren red card, but despite this disadvantage they managed to keep their act together.
Utrecht played at slow pace and were not able to cause much real danger until Yildirim’s goal in the final minute. VVV-coach Wil Boessen, who succeeded the fired Jan van Dijk at the Eredivisie restart, thus lost his first match on the Limburg bench.
FC Twente closed in on PSV with a convincing 5-0 win against neighbours Heracles Almelo in the postponed derby on Wednesday. The gap between the second ranked title holders and the current league leaders is only one point.
Mark Janko was the big man in Enschede scoring four times (4’, 45’+2’, 60’, 70’) and thus equalizing the Eredivisie record for an Austrian player. Kurt Welzl scored four times for AZ’67 versus Sparta in 1980. Luuk de Jong (39’) added to the tally to hand Twente their biggest ever Eredivisie victory in the derby versus Heracles. USA international Oguchi Onyewu made his debut and thus became the first American to play for Twente in the Eredivisie.
Coach Michel Preud’homme was satisfied. “It would be too much to say that we dominated throughout the match, but we were concentrated and we struck at the right moments. That’s very important.”
Björn Vleminckx handed NEC a point in Alkmaar on Wednesday: 2-2. The Belgian striker, who did not get a transfer to Club Brugge because he was too expensive, was worth every euro for NEC against AZ. The home team started well, but forgot to convert their chances and Vleminckx put NEC 1-0 up in the 22nd minute.
After the opener AZ geared up and Stijn Schaars (30’) and Erik Falkenburg (35’) scored. For captain Schaars it was his first Eredivisie goal since 11 November 2006, but the two AZ goals were not enough for three points.
Eredivisie top scorer Vleminckx scored his 15th goal this season to equalize with a beautifully curved long range volley in the 77th minute. NEC ended the match with ten men due to a red card for Leroy George, but AZ were not able to take advantage. “We should not have let it slip away in the second half”, AZ coach Gertjan Verbeek said.
Despite the absence of the injured Urby Emanuelson, Mounir El Hamdaoui and the suspended Luis Suarez Ajax did not encounter any troubles facing Feyenoord in ‘De Klassieker’ on Wednesday. Thanks to a ferocious long range shot by Toby Alderweireld (31’) and a converted spot-kick by Miralem Sulejmani (77’) the home team won 2-0 in Amsterdam. It marked the first time since the 2006/2007 season that Ajax booked a double league win over their Rotterdam arch rivals.
Playing the classic Ajax style 4-3-3 line-up the home team with newly appointed captain Maarten Stekelenburg pressed early and Feyenoord was not able to keep possession. The possession balance was 68 percent for Ajax versus 32 for Feyenoord. Shots were 23-6 and shots on target 10-1. Ajax did not yet concede a goal in the four matches with Frank de Boer as head coach. De Boer was satisfied but nothing more. “We failed to wrap up the match in the first half, but we gave away practically nothing. But we were sloppy sometimes in the second half and that’s when the opponent will start thinking about their chances. We must learn to be more clinical.”
Feyenoord’s Mario Been disputed the penalty but agreed that Ajax were far better. “They pressed very well and we were not able to play a passing game. You have to play with courage, which we did not.” After the 2-0 Been took off striker Luc Castaignos for defender Kelvin Leerdam. “You know it’s over then, and I did not want to be slaughtered.”
FC Twente closed in on PSV with a convincing 5-0 win against neighbours Heracles Almelo in the postponed derby on Wednesday. The gap between the second ranked title holders and the current league leaders is only one point.
Björn Vleminckx handed NEC a point in Alkmaar on Wednesday: 2-2. The Belgian striker, who did not get a transfer to Club Brugge because he was too expensive, was worth every euro for NEC against AZ.
FC Utrecht grabbed its 500th victory in the Eredivisie on Wednesday and became the seventh Dutch club to reach this milestone. The club defeated VVV-Venlo 2-1 on Wednesday. Atilla Yildirim scored the winner in the final minute. The twenty-year-old striker made his Eredivisie debut when he came on for Frank Demouge in the 78th minute.
Demouge opened the score line in the 37th minute, but Ken Leemans equalized only one minute later. Before halftime VVV were left with ten men because of a Niels Fleuren red card, but despite this disadvantage they managed to keep their act together.
Utrecht played at slow pace and were not able to cause much real danger until Yildirim’s goal in the final minute. VVV-coach Wil Boessen, who succeeded the fired Jan van Dijk at the Eredivisie restart, thus lost his first match on the Limburg bench.
FC Twente closed in on PSV with a convincing 5-0 win against neighbours Heracles Almelo in the postponed derby on Wednesday. The gap between the second ranked title holders and the current league leaders is only one point.
Mark Janko was the big man in Enschede scoring four times (4’, 45’+2’, 60’, 70’) and thus equalizing the Eredivisie record for an Austrian player. Kurt Welzl scored four times for AZ’67 versus Sparta in 1980. Luuk de Jong (39’) added to the tally to hand Twente their biggest ever Eredivisie victory in the derby versus Heracles. USA international Oguchi Onyewu made his debut and thus became the first American to play for Twente in the Eredivisie.
Coach Michel Preud’homme was satisfied. “It would be too much to say that we dominated throughout the match, but we were concentrated and we struck at the right moments. That’s very important.”
Björn Vleminckx handed NEC a point in Alkmaar on Wednesday: 2-2. The Belgian striker, who did not get a transfer to Club Brugge because he was too expensive, was worth every euro for NEC against AZ. The home team started well, but forgot to convert their chances and Vleminckx put NEC 1-0 up in the 22nd minute.
After the opener AZ geared up and Stijn Schaars (30’) and Erik Falkenburg (35’) scored. For captain Schaars it was his first Eredivisie goal since 11 November 2006, but the two AZ goals were not enough for three points.
Eredivisie top scorer Vleminckx scored his 15th goal this season to equalize with a beautifully curved long range volley in the 77th minute. NEC ended the match with ten men due to a red card for Leroy George, but AZ were not able to take advantage. “We should not have let it slip away in the second half”, AZ coach Gertjan Verbeek said.
Despite the absence of the injured Urby Emanuelson, Mounir El Hamdaoui and the suspended Luis Suarez Ajax did not encounter any troubles facing Feyenoord in ‘De Klassieker’ on Wednesday. Thanks to a ferocious long range shot by Toby Alderweireld (31’) and a converted spot-kick by Miralem Sulejmani (77’) the home team won 2-0 in Amsterdam. It marked the first time since the 2006/2007 season that Ajax booked a double league win over their Rotterdam arch rivals.
Playing the classic Ajax style 4-3-3 line-up the home team with newly appointed captain Maarten Stekelenburg pressed early and Feyenoord was not able to keep possession. The possession balance was 68 percent for Ajax versus 32 for Feyenoord. Shots were 23-6 and shots on target 10-1. Ajax did not yet concede a goal in the four matches with Frank de Boer as head coach. De Boer was satisfied but nothing more. “We failed to wrap up the match in the first half, but we gave away practically nothing. But we were sloppy sometimes in the second half and that’s when the opponent will start thinking about their chances. We must learn to be more clinical.”
Feyenoord’s Mario Been disputed the penalty but agreed that Ajax were far better. “They pressed very well and we were not able to play a passing game. You have to play with courage, which we did not.” After the 2-0 Been took off striker Luc Castaignos for defender Kelvin Leerdam. “You know it’s over then, and I did not want to be slaughtered.”
