Michiel Kramer’s first hat-trick for Feyenoord helped seal a 4-2 win over rivals Excelsior in the Rotterdam derby.
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Excelsior have always found it hard against their bigger brother and after only two minutes on Saturday they found themselves behind as Dirk Kuyt headed in on the rebound after Tom Muyters denied Simon Gustafson.
Feyenoord fans would have expected their side to comfortably control the game after the opener but back came Excelsior and just after the half hour mark Tom van Weert was unlucky to see his strike come back off the post, while minutes later Bradley Kuwas was denied by an interception by Rick Karsdorp.
The Feyenoord right back then raced down the other end to see a strike flicked into the net by Michiel Kramer to double the away sides lead. Exceslsior pulled one back before the break through Daryl Van Mieghem, who tapped in after good work by Jeff Stans.
At the beginning of the second half Excelsior passed up two chances to equalise and on 55 minutes Kramer punished their wastefulness by finishing off Karsdorp’s cross with a diving header.
Kramer then completed his hat-trick on 71 minutes, taking advantage of a horrible back pass by Adil Auassar before beating Muyters. Van Weert then netted a consolation for the home side with four minutes left.
The win takes Feyenoord temporarily level on points with leaders Ajax, while Excelsior sit 12th.
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