The Eredivisie league season drew to a close today with nine games. Here is the round up of all the action.
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Go Ahead Eagles 0-1 Roda JC
Roda JC are relegated to the Eerste Divisie despite beating Go Ahead Eagles 1-0 in Deventer. The away side went into the match knowing they had to win and hope Ajax beat NEC Nijmegen at the Amsterdam Arena. Roda JC did their bit as a 16 minute strike from Davy de Buele gave them all three points, but they suffered late heartbreak when news came in that NEC secured a late 2-2 draw against Ajax.
The club from Kerkrade will now drop down to the second tier for the first time since 1973 after finishing rock bottom in the Eredivisie.
Ajax 2-2 NEC
NEC saved themselves from automatic relegation thanks to a 88th minute equaliser from Alireza Jahanbakhsh which earned them a 2-2 draw in the Amsterdam Arena. Ajax, who could have been playing under coach Frank de Boer for the last time if the Tottenham rumours are true, took an early lead when Jeffrey Leiwakabessy put the ball into his own net.
In the second half Jahanbakhsh equalised, but Bojan appeared to hand Ajax a late win as he found the net with only seven minutes left. However with two minutes to go Jahanbakhsh made him self a NEC hero by firing past Kenneth Vermeer again to make it 2-2.
NEC will now participate in the relegation play-offs.
PSV 2-0 NAC Breda
PSV Eindhoven claimed 4th spot in the Eredivisie and a place in next season’s Europa League after a comfortable 2-0 win over NAC Breda at the Philips Stadion. Memphis Depay fired the home side ahead in the first half after a fantastic pass from Jorrit Hendrix, before Jeffrey Bruma sealed the win in the second half by heading in a corner.
Twente 2-2 PEC Zwolle
PEC Zwolle twice came from behind to earn a point against Twente, and end an excellent season on a high. Greek striker Thanis Karagounis cancelled out Kyle Ebecilio’s opener, but Dusan Tadic immediately restored Twente’s lead.
The second half saw Twente dominate possession, but PEC Zwolle earned themselves a point when Furdjel Narsingh equalised with twenty minutes to go.
RKC 0-3 Heerenveen
Heerenveen climbed up to fifth with an impressive 3-0 win over RKC Waalwijk, and will head into the play-offs for a Europa League spot as top seeds. Joey van den Berg scuffed Heerenveen into the lead five minutes before the break, while Bilal Basicokoglu made it 2-0 on 58 minutes.
Alfred Finnbogason then netted from the penalty spot to seal the win, which saw his club leapfrog Vitesse into fifth, and Marco van Basten’s side will now face AZ in the play-offs, while RKC will also enter play-offs to avoid relegation.
Utrecht 2-1 Vitesse
Utrecht rounded off their season with a 2-1 win over out of form Vitesse which sees them finish 10th. Steve de Ridder fired in at the far post to make it 1-0 before the break, but in the second half a howler from Robbin Ruiter allowed Zakaria Labyad’s hopeful shot gift Vitesse an equaliser.
However Juan Agudelo slid home a winner with just ten minutes to go. Vitesse will now move into the play-offs to face Groningen in the battle for a European place.
AZ 1-1 Feyenoord
In the battle of two departing manager’s Dick Advocaat’s AZ rescued a 1-1 draw against Ronald Koeman’s Feyenoord.
The away side dominated from the start with Jean Paul Boetius and Graziano Pelle hitting the woodwork before Jeffrey Gouweleeuw’s error allowed Lex Immers to open the scoring for Feyenoord.
Two minutes from the end Johan Gudmundsson stunned Feyenoord by netting an equaliser, but it could not prevent AZ from slipping to 8th in the table. Advocaat’s side will now face Heerenveen in the play-offs, while Koeman leaves Feyenoord having guided them to the Champions League
Groningen 3-1 Heracles
Groningen sealed a 7th place finish after an impressive 3-1 win over Heracles at the Euroborg. Richairo Zivkovic’s 18th minute opener was cancelled out by Heracles winger Mikhael Rosheuvel ten minutes before the break. The second half saw the home side seal the three points with goals from Michael de Leeuw and Nick van der Velden, and Groningen now head to face Vitesse in the European play-offs.
Cambuur 1-2 ADO Den Haag
ADO Den Haag came from behind to record a 2-1 win over Cambuur thanks to a late double from Michiel Kramer which overturned Ramon Leeuwin’s opener.
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