There were four matches in the Eredivisie on Saturday and below is a round up of all the action.
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Heracles Almelo 0-1 NAC Breda
A late penalty helped NAC Breda to a victory over relegation rivals Heracles.
With so much on the line for both sides, the game was edgy and Heracles looked nervous from the beginning. NAC looked more dangerous but lacked creativity.
In the second half, Heracles improved with Mike te Wierik hitting the crossbar, while Nac Unuvar had a goal ruled out for offside. Unuvar then hit the post as Heracles failed to turn their dominance into a lead.
NAC Breda escaped a red card for Lewis Holtby before they were awarded a penalty with ten minutes left for a handball. Clint Leemans remained calm to make it 1-0.
Andre Ayew then missed a good chance to double the lead but NAC Breda held on for the victory which moves them to 16th. Heracles is now bottom.
Excelsior 1-2 AZ Alkmaar
AZ Alkmaar scored twice in stoppage time to seal a victory over Excelsior in Rotterdam.
Excelsior had the better of the first half and they opened the scoring just before the break thanks to a deflected effort from Ilias Bronkhorst.
Sven Mijnans and Mexx Meerdink then made their returns from injury in the second half but AZ Alkmaar struggled to find an equaliser. That was until Troy Parrott netted in the 90th minute with a nice finish.
Then deep into injury time, AZ Alkmaar snatched all three points with Alexandre Penetra heading in a cross.
AZ Alkmaar is fifth while Excelsior is 13th.
Ajax 4-1 Fortuna Sittard
Ajax scored three goals in the opening thirty minutes to seal a comfortable victory over Fortuna Sittard.
Oleksandr Zinchenko made his first start for Ajax but after six minutes he was already leaving the pitch with an injury. A minute after Zinchenko was substituted, Jorthy Mokio fired in a powerful strike to make it 1-0 for Ajax.
An excellent run and finish from Rayane Bounida made it 2-0 before Mika Godts capped an excellent first thirty minutes with the third.
Before the break, Fortuna Sittard managed to pull one back with Josip Sutalo deflecting the ball into his own net.
Kasper Dolberg hit the post in the second half before he had a goal disallowed for a foul in the build up. Godts then added a fourth before the end with a powerful shot after being set up by Wout Weghorst.
Ajax is 3rd while Fortuna Sittard is in 11th.
Groningen 1-2 Utrecht
Utrecht came from behind to defeat Groningen in the Euroborg.
Both sides have been struggling for form in recent weeks and the first half was evidence of the lack of confidence.
Groningen improved after the break and Younes Taha broke the deadlock after 52 minutes with a fine finish from a Tyrique Mercera cross. Thom van Bergen then came close to doubling the lead but his shot hit the side netting.
Dani de Wit equalised with ten minutes remaining and it seemed that both teams were happy to settle for a point. However, in stoppage time, Jesper Karlsson found the net from a difficult angle to win it for Utrecht.
Utrecht are ninth after the win and one spot below Groningen.
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