After round 16 of the Eredivisie season there is no change at the top with the leading four all recording victories.
- By Leo Walker
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Ajax put pressure on their title challengers after defeating NAC Breda 4-0 to kick start Saturdays action ahead of their rivals taking to the pitch. Ajax have now found their feet and in Davy Klaassen they appear to have also found the natural replacement of Christian Eriksen. The Dutchman scored his first senior hat-trick after 65mins before Bojan Krkic scored in successive games to give the Champions a comfortable 4-0 victory.
FC Twente then travelled to Alkmaar to take on Dick Advocaats AZ side in a difficult tie at the AFAS Stadion. Under Dick Advocaat, AZ Alkmaar had lost just one game, in the previous round away at NEC Nijmegen, however this has now extended to two defeats. It was the hosts who would race in front with Roy Beerens scoring the opener before this was cancelled out by former PEC Zwolle player, Youness Mokhtar. In a tight affair with with both sides desperate for a winner, it was FC Twente who would inflict last minute heartbreak on the hosts. In injury time, new hero Youness Mokhtar scored his second goal of the game and the side from Enschede recorded a vital 2-1 victory.
The league leaders, Vitesse then concluded the evenings action on Saturday in Eindhoven as they took on PSV at the Philips Stadion. PSVs dismal run continues as Vitesse inflicted an embarrassing 6-2 defeat on Philip Cocu’s side to ensure the side from Arnhem would remain aloft at the top of the table. Vitesse led after 38 minutes, before they were pegged back through Memphis Depays equaliser. However two goals by the visitors saw the points wrapped up before the on loan Man City youngster, Karim Rekik reduced the deficit to one goal on the 84th minute. However in the last 5 minutes Vitesse inflicted a barrage of goals on the hosts to win 6-2.
Feyenoord got the days action underway on Sunday morning in a crucial tie away at sc Heerenveen. The away form of Feyenoord is their Achilles heel again this season as they look to end their Eredivisie Champions drought however the hosts were poor in midweek when being held to ADO Den Haag in a 1-1 draw. Feyenoord started brightly and scored two goals within the first 16 minutes to lead 2-0. Ronald Koemans side were firmly on top however with virtually the last kick of the first half, the hosts were back in the game following Kenny Otigba’s goal. The second half was dominated by sc Heerenveen who were desperate to find the equaliser, however their second goal never came and Feyenoord held on for a vital 2-1 win.
The round initially started on Friday evening with bottom side NEC Nijmegen travelling to take on Jan Wouters, FC Utrecht side. The first half offered very little for entertainment as it was 0-0 break. However just four minutes into the restart, Gevero Markiet gave the home fans something to cheer about with the opener. The fixture got much harder for the visitors when they were reduced to ten men following Ryan Koolwijk’s second yellow card and Michael Higdon missing from the spot when NEC were given a great opportunity to level. The tie was put beyond them though on the 78th minute when Steve de Ridder scored the second for FC Utrecht. The win has seen Jan Wouters side rise in the table to 7th and incredibly just 3 points behind Feyenoord.
The bottom three, at the end of round 16, sees NEC Nijmegen continuing to hold the automatic relegation spot. The place above is resided by RKC Waalwijk, who on Saturday evening were involved in a crunch tie with SC Cambuur. Erwin Koemans side led within 16 minutes before two goals in two crazy minutes saw SC Cambuur go in front after 37 minutes. The home side though responded to record a 2-2 draw and extend their unbeaten run to three games, however it is not enough to see them lift out of the bottom three. SC Cambuur also find themselves in the bottom three following Heracles 3-1 victory away at Roda JC which saw them rise from 17th to 13th. In the final game of the round, Roda JC led Heracles 1-0 after 18 minutes before Simon Czimmer equaliser on 35mins. With just 10 minutes remaining super sub, Oussama Tannane scored two goals to give Heracles three vital points. The result has seen Roda JC fall below Heracles into 14th.
The ijsselderby took place on Sunday between Go Ahead Eagles and PEC Zwolle with the hosts, Go Ahead Eagles inflicting an humiliating 4-1 defeat on their bitter rivals. Two early goals saw the side from Deventer lead 2-0 after 16 minutes before a third was added after 58 minutes which out the game to bed. The fourth goal for the hosts was from the spot on 70 minutes before Zwolle responded with nothing more than a consolation through substitute, Stefan Nijland.
The remaining game saw ADO Den Haag record a shock 2-1 victory at the Euroborg Stadion, the fortress home of FC Groningen. The victory for ADO Den Haag has seen them rise out of the bottom three as they inflicted the first home defeat of the season for the Green and White Army who remain in fifth after the conclusion if round 16.
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I like the Eredivisie a lot, a fascinating league with lots of top young talent playing regularly. I wish there was more matches available to watch on tv but alas only GolTv has the rights in USA but rarely broadcast matches, with that being said I go online to catch reviews of league matches and stumbled upon this website a while back, but there has to be some editing and or proofreading to this because it is hard to follow some sentences. Thank you