Review of all the action from round 21 of the Eredivisie which saw Ajax, Feyenoord and Vitesse all drop points in the title race.

  • By Leo Walker
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sno deThe unpredictable Eredivisie never fails to impress as Round 21 of the current season has passed. It was FC Twente who would benefit greatly from the weekends results.

On Friday evening, Feyenoord took on fellow title contenders Vitesse at the De Kuip. A draw was a result that both teams wanted to avoid, however despite an open, entertaining game, the outcome was a 1-1 stalemate. Feyenoord struck first with Graziano Pellè scoring his traditional headed effort from within the 6 yard box, despite Vitesse having the best of the early exchanges. The Italians 16th goal of the season was not enough to claim all three points as Vitesse captain, Guram Kashia scored his own headed goal to equalise. Either side had chances to win it, but to no success and a draw was a fair result. The following day it was announced that Ronald Koeman would be leaving Feyenoord at the end of the season.

Ajax failed to capitalise as they themselves were held to a 1-1 draw in Utrecht on Sunday. The hosts, who had previously been beaten 5-1 to PSV and 5-2 to Feyenoord in their last two home games, improved significantly to gain a vital draw and end their four game losing run. By holding Ajax to a draw, they ended the visitors 8 game winning run to ensure that they remained just 2 points ahead if Vitesse. The most improved player of the Eredivisie season is Daley Blind and he made his case for the World Cuo even stronger after his 30 yard strike which set Ajax ahead. They were pulled back however just 8 minutes later time when Steve de Ridder rounded keeper, Jasper Cillesen to level.

FC Twente were left stunned at home to SC Cambuur after the visitors took the lead from the penalty spot, and the visitors remained ahead at the break. Of the clubs in the bottom half, SC Cambuur have conceded the fewest goals this season and their resilient defence has proven difficult to breakdown as PSV, Ajax and sc Heerenveen have found out. The second half however saw the defence breakdown as FC Twente hit the net free times to record a 3-1 victory and close the gap to the league leaders to just four points and the side from Enschede have a game in hand.

The game in hand is due to the abandonment if their fixture against FC Ggroningen being called off due to a frozen pitch. The Green and White Army returned to action on Saturday evening and within three minutes found themselves 1-0 down following Nemanja Gudelj’s half volleyed effort after the ball fell kindly for him. AZ Alkmaar’s second and Gudelj’s second followed just 15 minutes later after a stunning volleyed strike from 12 yards out. The result was never in doubt from then on and AZ leap frogged their opponents as they now lie 6th, whilst FC Groningen fall to 8th.

The tie to conclude the round saw PSV suffer a shock 2-0 defeat away at RKC Waalwijk thanks to a brace by Evander Sno which takes his tally to four goals from ten appearances. It’s a remarkable story that the player who has suffered two on-field heart attacks in his past can still play football to any level, but to have had such a positive impact for RKC Waalwijk at the top level in Dutch football is extraordinary. The defeat for PSV is their 8th in this disastrous season for them, a season they want to quickly end so they can build for the next campaign.

The relegation battle promises to be just as, if not more, entertaining than the title race. The victory for RKC sees them lift out of the bottom three and now into 14th, whilst the defeat for SC Cambuur has seen them drop to 15th, one place above the relegation play-off zone. The bottom half in the Eredivisie is separated by just 5 points with NAC Breda in 10th on 25 points and ADO Den Haag rock bottom on 20 points.

ADO Den Haag were unable to build on last weeks shock victory over Feyenoord as they were comfortably beaten 3-0 by sc Heerenveen at the Abe Lenstra Stadion. It was the perfect response by sc Heerenveen after they were defeated by their neighbours in round 20 and have had to deal with the news that manager, Marco van Basten will be leaving at the end of the season. On 20 points also is NEC Nijmegen who recorded a 1-1 draw at home to the Go Ahead Eagles. Michael Higdon set the hosts on their way after just 6 minutes, however they failed the ultimate price by not scoring the crucial second goal and Turuc scored a wonder goal from 30 yards out when given to much space to ensure it finished a draw.

Roda JC suffered their first league loss under new manager Joh Dahl Tomasson after PEC Zwolle defeated them 3-1. The hosts took the lead after 19 minutes before Mitchell Donald scored his 6th goal of the season to equalise. With 13 minutes remaining Roda conceded a penalty and Guyon Fernandez scored from the spot for the second game in a row before the third was added in injury time. The victory for PEC Zwolle has seen them remain in the top half, ahead of NAC Breda, Heracles and FC Utrecht by three points. It was NAC Breda who would record a 2-1 victory over Heracles at the Polman Stadion to ensure they would go on level points with their opponents and by goal difference lie in 10th after 21 rounds.




Leo Walker (36 Posts)