As round seven concluded there is a new name at the summit of the Eredivisie as PSV stormed to the top following their 4-0 victory over Ajax.
- By Leo Walker
- Follow Leo on Twitter
Philip Cocu’s inflicted their biggest defeat on their arch rivals since April 2009 when they put 6 past them. After 53 mins the game was all level with both sides exchanging blows, before Tim Matavz Scored which opened the floodgates in Ajax’s defence. A further three goals were converted before the 68th minute as the 4-0 nil rout was complete. PSV replaced PEC Zwolle at the top as the former league leaders suffered back to back victories in the first game on Sunday. Ron Jans side travelled to the Gelredome where they suffered a 3-0 defeat at the home of Vitesse as they failed to score for the first time this season.
The opening game of the round was on Friday which saw SC Cambuur show their resilient defensive capabilities yet again this season as they held Go Ahead Eagles to a 0-0 draw despite being down to ten men for the entire second half. SC Cambuur have recorded three 0-0 draws and kept four clean sheets so far this season and have only conceded five goals from the seven fixtures as the two promoted sides shared the spoils. The result left Eagles manager, Foeke Booy scratching his head as his side were unable to grab the vital winner in a frustrating performance for the side from Deventer.
FC Twente extended their domination in the Derby of the East fixture as they inflicted a 3-0 defeat on their local rivals, Heracles Almelo. FC Twente led after 17 minutes through Rasmus Bengtssons headed effort, and despite plenty of possession the hosts, Heracles were unable to create any real chances. They were punished as FC Twente scored two goals in quick succession, first Kyle Ebecilio on the 72nd minute, before Dusan Tadic scored from the spot. The resident fans were understandably frustrated and made their opinions known as the game was delayed for a period of time, but this did not change the outcome as FC Twente recorded their first victory in Almelo since 2009.
ADO Den Haag and NEC Nijmegen shared the spoils at the Kyocera Stadion in a 1-1 draw as NEC Nijmegen recorded their fourth draw in a row. Mathias Gehrt put the hosts 1-0 up with a headed effort from the six yard box before NEC Nijmegen levelled through Christoph Hemlein’s theatrical volley with 15 minutes to go. Neither side were able to grab a winner as they both remain in the bottom three. The third side to make up the bottom three after round seven are RKC Waalwijk who suffered a 4-1 defeat away at FC Groningen. RKC Waalwijk were reduced to ten men on the 37th minute, and were able to block out FC Groningen until the 67th minute, however they conceded two goals in quick succession. The ten men responded immediately through Aurelien Joachim and pushed hard to find the equaliser, however a further two goal burst for FC Groningen in injury time resulted in a harsh 4-1 defeat for Erwin Koeman’s side.
The final match on Saturday was the entertaining fixture between Roda JC and sc Heerenveen which finished 3-3 and involved numerous chances for both sides. Arguably against the run of play, sc Heerenveen took the lead on the 26th minute through Magnus Eikrem’s opener, before they were pegged back seven minutes later after an impressive build up by Roda JC saw Mitchell Donald equalise. The hosts then led through Krisztian Nemeth before Marco van Basten’s side responded with two goals in quick succession to restore their one goal lead and make it 3-2. Roda JC showed brilliant character, especially following their 5-1 loss at home to NAC Breda in round six, to level again to make 3-3.
NAC Breda were arguably the team of the round after they inflicted a 3-0 defeat on AZ Alkmaar. Gertjan Verbeek’s side looked to suffer from their European exploits on Thursday as NAC Breda recorded back to back victories which has seen them lift out of the bottom three and up to 12th. Feyenoord are still recovering from their disappointing start to the season which saw them winless for the first 3 games. However three home victories and a draw since has seen them rise to 8th and providing their away performances improve, Ronald Koeman’s side can challenge for their first title since the 1998/99 season. Tonny Vilhena scored the only goal in a narrow 1-0 win over visitors, FC Utrecht.
Follow
Thank you for this site–there so many of us first generation Canadians/Americans/Austrailians/New Zealanders who grew up with Dutch football and having grown up using English as our primary language, sites like this make it easier for us to follow our club.
My cousins, after thirty-some years, are still amused at my interest and knowledge of Eredivise/KNVB football. This site keeps me current so my texts and emails to family during the weekend matches sparks a lot of good-natured banter as my Ajax generally slap my cousin Menno’s PSV around–not this weekend though!
Thanks from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada