The top fixture between Ajax and PSV ended in a goalless draw on Saturday, which left PSV on top of the league because FC Twente lost their second consecutive league match at home against AZ.
The big fixture against PSV did not hand Ajax any answers on Saturday. The match ended in a goalless draw and the main question will be as always: what is Johan Cruijff going to say in his Monday morning newspaper column in ‘De Telegraaf’.
FC Twente lost their second consecutive league match on Saturday and the title holders are now three points behind league leaders PSV. Last week Twente lost 2-1 at NAC and this week AZ defeated them 2-1 in Enschede.
Feyenoord lost again. “Yes, we are a nominee for relegation and that is a shame for our club”, coach Mario Been said on Sunday. His team were beaten 2-0 at FC Groningen and dropped to the 16th place on the ranking. “But I’m sure we are going to stay in the Eredivisie. I am a fighter. As a football player I was not, but as a trainer I am.”
Excelsior grabbed a very important win in the relegation battle with VVV-Venlo on Saturday. Roland Bergkamp hit the target for the only goal of the match from a rebound after Tim Vincken missed a penalty in the 75th minute.
Excelsior should have been at least 1-0 up at half time, but referee Bas Nijhuis cancelled a Roland Bergkamp and a Guyon Fernandez goal because of offside. The Fernandez goal seemed to be perfectly onside however. When Patrick Paauwe fouled Fernandez in the box in the second half, Excelsior eventually got the goal they deserved in the second half. Paauwe was sent off with his second yellow card.
Albert Ferrer made his debut as head coach of Vitesse with a 2-0 win at Heracles Almelo. The Spanish trainer was appointed last month after Theo Bos was sacked, but he only started his job on Saturday.
Although Vitesse beat VVV-Venlo 5-1 last week, Ferrer made four changes in the starting lineup. Pedersen, Laryea Kingston, Genaro Snijders and Luca Caldirola started instead of Wiljan Pluijm, Nemanja Matic, Dalibor Stevanovic and the suspended Alexander Büttner.
Although Vitesse was far from playing Ferrer’s desired Barcelona style attacking game, the club got a deserved win in the end. Davy Pröpper put the home team in front with an early goal in the fifth minute and Dalibor Stevanovic scored the decisive 2-0 four minutes from time.
Rydell Poepon lived up to the expectations on Saturday. The striker scored 4 times in 6 matches against Roda JC in the past and found the target three times more this time. Poepon’s hattrcik handed De Graafschap a 3-1 home win, and the Superboeren remain undefeated in their last six home matches.
Poepon struck home in the 23rd, 25th and 76th minute. When he scored his second goal he was hit on the nose by an opponent. “I think I broke my nose there”, the striker commented after the match. Stein Huysegems hit the tarhget for Roda JC in the 45th minute. Roda played much better in the second half, but they did not get many real scoring opportunities.
FC Twente lost their second consecutive league match on Saturday and the title holders are now three points behind league leaders PSV. Last week Twente lost 2-1 at NAC and this week AZ defeated them 2-1 in Enschede.
Coach Michel Preud’homme blamed central defender Douglas. The Brazilian defender received a red card for fouling a breakaway player in the 31st minute. FC Twente were 1-0 up at that moment, but Rasmus Elm converted the resulting free kick and with ten men Twente were not able to keep AZ at a distance. “If Douglas would have let Maarten Martens pass through, the goalkeeper would still have had a chance to save. We probably never played as good as we did in the first half hour. Even if Martens had scored 1-1, we still would have had plenty of chances to win this match.”
Luuk de Jong put Twente 1-0 up in the 17th minute, but after Douglas’ red card everything changed. AZ pushed the home team back, but they did not seem to be able to score. Eventually substitute Celso Ortíz handed the Alkmaar team the win with his first ever Eredivisie goal.
The big fixture against PSV did not hand Ajax any answers on Saturday. The match ended in a goalless draw and the main question will be as always: what is Johan Cruijff going to say in his Monday morning newspaper column in ‘De Telegraaf’. Much criticized Ajax trainer Martin Jol saw Cruijff in the stands, but he did not speak to Ajax’ godfather. “Apparently he’s on a long holiday in the Netherlands,” Jol commented on Cruijff’s presence at the match. The legendary number fourteen live in Barcelona.
Ajax came from two consecutive league losses and could not afford to lose if they wanted keep up in the title race. The home team were not able to really frighten PSV’s tight defense in the first half however. PSV kept their positions and left the ball to Ajax, who were desperately seeking striker Mounir El Hamdaouia and Luis Suarez without actually setting them up with a good scoring chance.
PSV got the better chances in the second half, but Suarez came closest to scoring a goal. He caught goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson far in front of his goal line, but his shit from almost sixty meters just missed the target. It left Suarez not scoring for the sixth league match in a row, his longest non scoring streak for Ajax. Once before Suarex had a longer non scoring streak in the Eredivisie, when he did not hit the target in eight consecutive matches for FC Groningen in the 2006/2007 season.
Frustration got the better of Suarez, after Ajax’midfielder Rasmus Lindgren took a red card in injury time when he tried to kick PSV midfielder Ibrahim Afellay. The captain bit Otman Bakkal in the shoulder, but referee Björn Kuipers did not see what happened and Suarez was not sent off. He may be charged by the disciplinary committee of the KNVB.
“Yes we are a nominee for relegation and that is a shame for Feyenoord”, coach Mario Been said on Sunday. His team lost 2-0 at FC Groningen and dropped to the 16th place on the ranking. “But I’m sure we are going to stay in the Eredivisie. I am a fighter. As a football player I was not, but as a trainer I am.”
Been tried desperately to talk confidence into his team, but fact of the matter was that Feyenoord did not stand a chance in the Euroborg stadium. Tim Matavz scored in the 13th and in the 84th minute and if the Groningen strikers would have been a bit more accurate in the box the score could have gone way up.
Pieter Huistra, who makes his debut as a head coach in the Eredivisie this season, led Groningen to their best season start in the history of the Dutch top flight. The Northerners have 30 points from their first 15 matches. The team passed Ajax on the ranking to reach the third place.
Gert Heerkes was ashamed of his team’s performance in Friesland on Sunday. “The way we let it all slip away in the second half is embarrassing.” Willem II were 2-0 down at half time, but they did not look like a losing team. When Roy Beerens scored 3-0 in the 57the minute the visitors completely collapsed and Heerenveen took advantage: 5-0.
Beerens scored the 4-0 from the spot and thus celebrated his 100th Eredivisie match on a high note. Mika Väyrynen (18’) and Michel Breuer (40’) put Heerenveen ahead in the first half. Ron Jans’ team ware not confident however, as they already blew a 2-0 halftime lead twice this season.
After Beerens’ two goals the winger set up Breuer to put away the 5-0. “At half time I had this scary déjà vu, but we stayed focused,” Jans said. The coach was happy, but he will have enough problems to face the upcoming week. Against Willem II Jans left striker Bas Dost out of his starting lineup instead of Viktor Elm. Dost was not amused and refused to talk to the press afterwards.
ADO Den Haag is improving every week. “Everything that makes football the beautiful game was there today”, coach John van den Brom said on Sunday. His team crushed NAC Breda 3-0 and climbed to the sixth place on the ranking.
NAC did not stand a chance in Den Haag and Wesley Verhoek once again showed to be a class of his own. In the fifth minute he hit the cross bar from free kick and Dmitri Bulykin scored from the rebound.
Five minutes into the second half Verhoek scored with a touch of brilliance and from that moment on it was show time for ADO. Aleksander Radosavljevic added a third goal in the 65th minute and the home team’s only fault was not scoring from the many opportunities they created.
FC Utrecht took advantage of a red card for Mark Otten in the first half to grab their biggest home win against NEC in Eredivisie history on Sunday. Although Otten got the red card in the 21st minute, NEC stayed in the match until the last ten minutes.
Edouard Duplan, Mihai Nesu and NEC breed Frank Demouge scored the home team’s last three goals only in the 84th, 85th and 90th minute. Ricky van Wolfswinkel put Utrecht in front in the 21st minute from the spot.
The penalty resulted from an Otten foul on Frank Demouge in the box. The defender got his second yellow card. “Injustice”, trainer Wiljan Vloet said. “We came here with a lot of confidence and then we get this red card so early. Actually we did pretty well afterwards, but a good result was almost impossible.”
FC Twente lost their second consecutive league match on Saturday and the title holders are now three points behind league leaders PSV. Last week Twente lost 2-1 at NAC and this week AZ defeated them 2-1 in Enschede.
Feyenoord lost again. “Yes, we are a nominee for relegation and that is a shame for our club”, coach Mario Been said on Sunday. His team were beaten 2-0 at FC Groningen and dropped to the 16th place on the ranking. “But I’m sure we are going to stay in the Eredivisie. I am a fighter. As a football player I was not, but as a trainer I am.”
Excelsior grabbed a very important win in the relegation battle with VVV-Venlo on Saturday. Roland Bergkamp hit the target for the only goal of the match from a rebound after Tim Vincken missed a penalty in the 75th minute.
Excelsior should have been at least 1-0 up at half time, but referee Bas Nijhuis cancelled a Roland Bergkamp and a Guyon Fernandez goal because of offside. The Fernandez goal seemed to be perfectly onside however. When Patrick Paauwe fouled Fernandez in the box in the second half, Excelsior eventually got the goal they deserved in the second half. Paauwe was sent off with his second yellow card.
Albert Ferrer made his debut as head coach of Vitesse with a 2-0 win at Heracles Almelo. The Spanish trainer was appointed last month after Theo Bos was sacked, but he only started his job on Saturday.
Although Vitesse beat VVV-Venlo 5-1 last week, Ferrer made four changes in the starting lineup. Pedersen, Laryea Kingston, Genaro Snijders and Luca Caldirola started instead of Wiljan Pluijm, Nemanja Matic, Dalibor Stevanovic and the suspended Alexander Büttner.
Although Vitesse was far from playing Ferrer’s desired Barcelona style attacking game, the club got a deserved win in the end. Davy Pröpper put the home team in front with an early goal in the fifth minute and Dalibor Stevanovic scored the decisive 2-0 four minutes from time.
Rydell Poepon lived up to the expectations on Saturday. The striker scored 4 times in 6 matches against Roda JC in the past and found the target three times more this time. Poepon’s hattrcik handed De Graafschap a 3-1 home win, and the Superboeren remain undefeated in their last six home matches.
Poepon struck home in the 23rd, 25th and 76th minute. When he scored his second goal he was hit on the nose by an opponent. “I think I broke my nose there”, the striker commented after the match. Stein Huysegems hit the tarhget for Roda JC in the 45th minute. Roda played much better in the second half, but they did not get many real scoring opportunities.
FC Twente lost their second consecutive league match on Saturday and the title holders are now three points behind league leaders PSV. Last week Twente lost 2-1 at NAC and this week AZ defeated them 2-1 in Enschede.
Coach Michel Preud’homme blamed central defender Douglas. The Brazilian defender received a red card for fouling a breakaway player in the 31st minute. FC Twente were 1-0 up at that moment, but Rasmus Elm converted the resulting free kick and with ten men Twente were not able to keep AZ at a distance. “If Douglas would have let Maarten Martens pass through, the goalkeeper would still have had a chance to save. We probably never played as good as we did in the first half hour. Even if Martens had scored 1-1, we still would have had plenty of chances to win this match.”
Luuk de Jong put Twente 1-0 up in the 17th minute, but after Douglas’ red card everything changed. AZ pushed the home team back, but they did not seem to be able to score. Eventually substitute Celso Ortíz handed the Alkmaar team the win with his first ever Eredivisie goal.
The big fixture against PSV did not hand Ajax any answers on Saturday. The match ended in a goalless draw and the main question will be as always: what is Johan Cruijff going to say in his Monday morning newspaper column in ‘De Telegraaf’. Much criticized Ajax trainer Martin Jol saw Cruijff in the stands, but he did not speak to Ajax’ godfather. “Apparently he’s on a long holiday in the Netherlands,” Jol commented on Cruijff’s presence at the match. The legendary number fourteen live in Barcelona.
Ajax came from two consecutive league losses and could not afford to lose if they wanted keep up in the title race. The home team were not able to really frighten PSV’s tight defense in the first half however. PSV kept their positions and left the ball to Ajax, who were desperately seeking striker Mounir El Hamdaouia and Luis Suarez without actually setting them up with a good scoring chance.
PSV got the better chances in the second half, but Suarez came closest to scoring a goal. He caught goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson far in front of his goal line, but his shit from almost sixty meters just missed the target. It left Suarez not scoring for the sixth league match in a row, his longest non scoring streak for Ajax. Once before Suarex had a longer non scoring streak in the Eredivisie, when he did not hit the target in eight consecutive matches for FC Groningen in the 2006/2007 season.
Frustration got the better of Suarez, after Ajax’midfielder Rasmus Lindgren took a red card in injury time when he tried to kick PSV midfielder Ibrahim Afellay. The captain bit Otman Bakkal in the shoulder, but referee Björn Kuipers did not see what happened and Suarez was not sent off. He may be charged by the disciplinary committee of the KNVB.
“Yes we are a nominee for relegation and that is a shame for Feyenoord”, coach Mario Been said on Sunday. His team lost 2-0 at FC Groningen and dropped to the 16th place on the ranking. “But I’m sure we are going to stay in the Eredivisie. I am a fighter. As a football player I was not, but as a trainer I am.”
Been tried desperately to talk confidence into his team, but fact of the matter was that Feyenoord did not stand a chance in the Euroborg stadium. Tim Matavz scored in the 13th and in the 84th minute and if the Groningen strikers would have been a bit more accurate in the box the score could have gone way up.
Pieter Huistra, who makes his debut as a head coach in the Eredivisie this season, led Groningen to their best season start in the history of the Dutch top flight. The Northerners have 30 points from their first 15 matches. The team passed Ajax on the ranking to reach the third place.
Gert Heerkes was ashamed of his team’s performance in Friesland on Sunday. “The way we let it all slip away in the second half is embarrassing.” Willem II were 2-0 down at half time, but they did not look like a losing team. When Roy Beerens scored 3-0 in the 57the minute the visitors completely collapsed and Heerenveen took advantage: 5-0.
Beerens scored the 4-0 from the spot and thus celebrated his 100th Eredivisie match on a high note. Mika Väyrynen (18’) and Michel Breuer (40’) put Heerenveen ahead in the first half. Ron Jans’ team ware not confident however, as they already blew a 2-0 halftime lead twice this season.
After Beerens’ two goals the winger set up Breuer to put away the 5-0. “At half time I had this scary déjà vu, but we stayed focused,” Jans said. The coach was happy, but he will have enough problems to face the upcoming week. Against Willem II Jans left striker Bas Dost out of his starting lineup instead of Viktor Elm. Dost was not amused and refused to talk to the press afterwards.
ADO Den Haag is improving every week. “Everything that makes football the beautiful game was there today”, coach John van den Brom said on Sunday. His team crushed NAC Breda 3-0 and climbed to the sixth place on the ranking.
NAC did not stand a chance in Den Haag and Wesley Verhoek once again showed to be a class of his own. In the fifth minute he hit the cross bar from free kick and Dmitri Bulykin scored from the rebound.
Five minutes into the second half Verhoek scored with a touch of brilliance and from that moment on it was show time for ADO. Aleksander Radosavljevic added a third goal in the 65th minute and the home team’s only fault was not scoring from the many opportunities they created.
FC Utrecht took advantage of a red card for Mark Otten in the first half to grab their biggest home win against NEC in Eredivisie history on Sunday. Although Otten got the red card in the 21st minute, NEC stayed in the match until the last ten minutes.
Edouard Duplan, Mihai Nesu and NEC breed Frank Demouge scored the home team’s last three goals only in the 84th, 85th and 90th minute. Ricky van Wolfswinkel put Utrecht in front in the 21st minute from the spot.
The penalty resulted from an Otten foul on Frank Demouge in the box. The defender got his second yellow card. “Injustice”, trainer Wiljan Vloet said. “We came here with a lot of confidence and then we get this red card so early. Actually we did pretty well afterwards, but a good result was almost impossible.”
