The Eredivisie regular season ended on Sunday with an incredible final round of matches which saw Feyenoord win the title, and no fewer than 40 goals scored over nine games. Below is a round-up of all the day’s action.
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Feyenoord 3-1 Heracles
Feyenoord are the 2016/17 Eredivisie champions after a Dirk Kuyt hat-trick gave them a 3-1 win over Heracles at De Kuip. The veteran who only started
The veteran who only started because of Tonny Vilhena’s suspension eased any nerves in De Kuip by netting the opener after only 38 seconds. That was his 100th goal in the Eredivisie and it was quickly followed by his second on 12 minutes, as he headed in from close range.
In the 84th minute, Nicolai Jorgensen was fouled in the box which allowed Kuyt to complete his hat-trick from the penalty spot. Peter van Ooijen pulled one back for the visitors, but it wasn’t the start of a comeback as Feyenoord held on to seal their first league title in 18 years.
Willem II 1-3 Ajax
It wasn’t to be for Ajax, who eased to a win over Willem II but it wasn’t enough to win them the title.
After the match with Lyon on Thursday, Peter Bosz rang the changes for the tie with Willem II, with Justin Kluivert, Frenkie de Jong, David Neres and Donny van de Beek among those coming into the starting eleven. The deadlock was broken seven minutes before the break when Kluivert set up Kasper Dolberg for a simple tap-in.
In the second half, Davinson Sanchez and Davy Klaassen made it 3-0 for Ajax before Jari Schuurman pulled one back for the hosts.
Ajax have to settle for second place in the Eredivisie but they can now concentrate fully on the Europa League final against Manchester United.
Vitesse 3-0 Roda JC
Roda JC must take part in the relegation play-offs after a costly defeat against Vitesse.
The Kerkrade side went into the final day with a two-point lead over both NEC and Sparta Rotterdam, but they slumped to a defeat which leaves them second bottom in the table.
Ricky van Wolfswinkel netted a double while Lewis Baker scored in his final game on loan at the club. Mitchell Paulissen saw red for the visitors who now face Helmond Sport in their bid to remain in the top flight.
Go Ahead Eagles 1-3 Sparta Rotterdam
Sparta Rotterdam will remain in the Eredivisie next season after a comfortable win over already relegated Go Ahead Eagles.
The visitors had to win the game to have any chance of survival and after 58 minutes they took the lead through Mario Pusic. However, Go Ahead Eagles equalised on 78 minutes after Darren Maatsen found the net. Pusic restored Sparta’s lead eight minutes later with a tap-in before a Craig Goodwin free kick sealed the Rotterdammers survival.
Heerenveen 0-2 NEC
NEC did what they needed to do on the final day of the season but it wasn’t enough to seal survival.
Arnaut Groenevald and Taiwo Awoniyi scored either side of half-time to seal the win for NEC but Sparta’s win means they remain in the bottom three and must enter the relegation play-offs. They will face Emmen in their first tie. Heerenveen’s poor season comes to a disappointing end and they must pick themselves up when they face Utrecht in the European play-offs.
PSV 4-1 PEC Zwolle
PSV came from behind to beat PEC Zwolle in their final game of the season.
Phillip Cocu handed Sam Lammers his first start of the season but his side fell behind on the half-hour mark when Jeroen Zoet failed to catch a free kick and Ted van der Pavert tapped into the net.
Hector Moreno finally equalised for PSV in the 78th minute before Santiago Arias gave the hosts a lead moments later with a lovely strike from outside the box. Lammers netted with a lovely strike on 85 minutes to make it 3-1 before Bart Ramselaar wrapped up the win late on.
PSV end the season in third and they will now begin planning how they will retain the Eredivisie title from Feyenoord next season.
AZ 2-3 Utrecht
AZ and Utrecht both warmed up for the European play-offs with an entertaining match at the AFAS stadion.
Richairo Zivkovic was handed a start by Erik ten Hag and the striker backheeled Utrecht into the lead on 33 minutes. A minute later AZ were reduced to ten men with Jonas Svensson seeing red. Zakaria Labyad then quickly doubled Utrechts lead and it seemed they were on course for a simple victory.
However, Mark van der Maarel deflected the ball into his own net to give AZ hope and although Nacer Barazite restored Utrecht’s two-goal lead, Alireza Jahanbakhsh made the last twenty mintues interesting by making it 3-2.
Utrecht held on to the victory and they head into their play-off against Heerenveen full of confidence. AZ will face Groningen.
Twente 3-5 Groningen
Groningen confirmed their place in the European play-offs with a crazy win over FC Twente, who finished above them but are banned from European competitions.
Bryan Linssen opened the scoring for the visitors in the second minute before Dylan George equalised for Twente. An Oussama Idrissi double then put Groningen in command before a Stefan Thesker OG made it 4-1 at the break.
Mateusz Klich pulled one back from the penalty spot but Alexander Sorloth quickly snuffed out any chance of a comeback by netting Groningen’s fifth. Enes Unal pulled back a consolation late on for what might be his final Eredivisie goal.
Groninen now face AZ in the European play-offs
ADO Den Haag 4-1 Excelsior
ADO Den Haag ended their season with a comfortable win over Excelsior.
Sheraldo Becker fired ADO into an early lead before Jeffrey Forted equalised for Excelsior in the 20th minute. Mike Havenaar quickly restored ADO’s advantage before Abdenasser El Khayati and Wilfried Kanon sealed the win for the hosts.
ADO finish the season in 11th with Excelsior one place behind.
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