The Eredivisie ended in incredible circumstances on Sunday with PSV Eindhoven taking the title. Below is a round-up of all nine matches in the action-packed final day.
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De Graafschap 1-1 Ajax
A win was all Ajax needed to lift the Eredivisie title and all was going to plan when Amin Younes curled in the opener for the Amsterdam club early in the first half.
Frank de Boer’s side then missed chance after chance including an open goal for Vaclav Cerny as they looked for a crucial second goal. Hidde Jurjus made two excellent saves early in the second half and on 55 minutes the unthinkable happened as Bryan Smeets equalised for the home side with an excellent strike into the bottom corner.
Ajax pushed for a winner but the SuperBoeren held on to incredibly hand the title to PSV.
PEC Zwolle 1-3 PSV Eindhoven
PSV went into the final round of games needing to avoid any slip up against PEC Zwolle and hope for a favour from De Graafschap.
PEC Zwolle started the game on top but Jurgen Locadia fired PSV in front on 34 minutes before Luuk de Jong nodded in a second before half-time. Ouasim Bouy pulled one back for PEC Zwolle with a wonderful solo effort, but any chance of a comeback was short-lived as De Jong sealed the victory for Phillip Cocu’s side.
They then waited to hear the news from Doetinchem and burst into celebrations as it was confirmed that they retained their title.
Utrecht 1-3 AZ Alkmaar
In the battle for fourth and an automatic place in the Europa league it was AZ Alkmaar who triumphed in an entertaining tie in Utrecht.
Haps opened the scoring after only three minutes for AZ after latching onto Joris van Overeem’s through ball, and on 38 minutes Dabney Dos Santos added a second after robbing Mark van der Maarel just outside the box.
Rico Strieder pulled one back for Utrecht, but Vincent Janssen rounded off the win for AZ with his 27th goal of the season. AZ now head into the Europa League, while Utrecht are in the play-offs. They will face PEC Zwolle in the first round.
Feyenoord 1-0 NEC
Feyenoord rounded off their campaign with a narrow 1-0 win over NEC thanks to Dirk Kuyt’s nineteenth goal of the season.
Feyenoord finish third while NEC slip to tenth and out of the play-offs.
Groningen 2-1 Heracles
Groningen will take part in the European play-offs after two goals from captain Rasmus Lindgren gave them a 2-1 victory over Heracles.
The centre back opened the scoring on 53 minutes before adding his second from close range ten minutes later. Illias Bel Hassani pulled one back for Heracles but Groningen held on.
Groningen finish 7th, while Heracles are 6th. The two will meet each other over two legs in the first play-off round.
Cambuur 0-2 Excelsior
Excelsior confirmed their place in the Eredivisie next season with a 2-0 win over already relegated Cambuur.
Tom van Weert scored his 11th of the season early on before Kevin Vermeulen wrapped up the win late on by finishing off an excellent team move.
Excelsior finish 15th, while Cambuur slip to the Eerste Divisie after a horrible season.
Roda JC 2-3 Willem II
Willem II came from behind to beat Roda JC but they remain in the bottom three and must enter the relegation play-offs.
Buijs opened the scoring for Roda JC on 19 minutes with a tap in before Erik Falkenburg equalised 15 minutes later. The parity was short lived as Inceman restored Roda JC’s lead but early second half goals from Bruno Andrade and Lucas Andersen handed Willem II a win.
Willem II must now face Almere City in the play-offs, while Roda JC finish the season in 14th.
Twente 2-2 Vitesse
Vitesse twice blew a lead as they failed to reach the end of season play-offs.
A win for the Arnhem side was crucial if they were to reach the top eight and they were gifted an opening goal after three minutes as Bruno Uvini deflected the ball into his own goal. Zakaria El Azzouzi equalised for Twente before the break with an excellent strike into the top corner.
Zhang Yuning restored Vitesse’s lead on the hour mark with a close range header but Ede equalised five minutes later as Twente earned a draw.
Twente finish the season in 13th while Vitesse miss out on the play-offs in ninth.
ADO Den Haag 1-1 Heerenveen
ADO Den Haag and Heerenveen finished their disappointing seasons with a 1-1 draw in the Kyocera Stadion.
Mike Havenaar opened the scoring in the first half from the penalty spot after the striker was fouled, but Mitchell Te Vrede equalised five minutes after the break to earn Heerenveen a point.
Heerenveen end in 12th with ADO Den Haag one place above.
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