Here is a round up of all this weekend’s Eredivisie action including some big games in the race for top three and at the bottom.
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Heracles 0-2 Volendam
Heracles Almelo have been officially relegated from the Eredivisie after a defeat to Volendam.
The chances of survival for Heracles were extremely slim going into Sunday’s clash against a fellow relegation candidate.
With so much at stake for the hosts the game was understandably nervy and Heracles struggled to get a hold on the match. It all went wrong in the second half when goals from Anthony Descotte and then Robert Muhren put the visitors 2-0 up.
The home crowd fired off fireworks which delayed the end of the game but eventually it was completed and Heracles fate was sealed.
Heracles are officially down while Volendam are 15th and out of the bottom three by one point.
Excelsior 5-0 Utrecht
Excelsior boosted their chances of survival with a big win over 10-man Utrecht.
Noah Naujoks opened the scoring for Excelsior before Matisse Didden was shown two yellow cards to reduce Utrecht to ten men.
Excelsior took full advantage of the red card and Derensili Sanches Fernandes made it 2-0 before the break.
In the second half, Excelsior eased to victory as Sanches Fernandes got his second goal of the afternoon. Irakli Yegoian made it 4-0 before Lennard Hartjes completed the rout.
Excelsior take a big victory but they are still 14th and only one point above the drop zone.
NAC Breda 0-2 Ajax
Mika Godts scored a wonder goal as Ajax defeated NAC Breda.
After 20 minutes, Ajax had the lead with Oscar Gloukh left completely unmarked in the box to slot in a Mika Godts cross.
Just before the break, Godts channelled Zlatan Ibrahimovic as he scored a goal of the season contender. He dribbled past several NAC Breda defenders and their goalkeeper before slotting into the empty net.
Ajax eased to victory in the second half and they are now 4th and only one point off NEC Nijmegen with three games left to play. NAC Breda are almost certain to join Heracles in relegation as they sit five points adrift of Telstar.
Twente 1-1 NEC Nijmegen
Twente failed to move into third as they were held to a draw by NEC Nijmegen, who bounced back after a tough week.
NEC Nijmegen went into the game third but confidence will have been low following their big defeat in the KNVB Cup last weekend. Twente were on top from the start and after Sam Lammers had a goal disallowed, Sondre Ørjasaeter did make it 1-0.
The visitors recovered though and a cool finish from Bryan Linssen made it 1-1. Lars Unnerstall then had to make a big save to deny Kodai Sano.
After the break, Tjaronn Chery hit the post for NEC but the biggest chance fell to Twente in the dying seconds. Robin Pröpper thought he won it with a header but it was brilliantly saved by Crettaz.
NEC Nijmegen stay third but only one point now separates them from Ajax and Twente. The race for third will go down to the wire.
Feyenoord 3-1 Groningen
Feyenoord took a big step towards second with a big win over Groningen.
Feyenoord got off to the perfect start as Jordan Bos made it 1-0 in the 11th minute and shortly afterward, Ayase Ueda made it 2-0 from the penalty spot.
Groningen remained in the game but they couldn’t prevent Ueda making it 3-0 in the second half. Givairo Read then made his return from injury for Feyenoord, while Illai Grootfam became the club’s youngest player as he appeared off the bench at 16 years and one month old.
Thom van Bergen would pull one back for Groningen in the dying minutes but it was nothing more than a consolation.
Feyenoord are now three points clear in second place while Groningen is 9th.
Heerenveen 2-1 Fortuna Sittard
Heerenveen are almost certain of a playoff spot after defeating Fortuna Sittard.
Fortuna Sittard still had an outside chance of a playoff spot and they took the lead early on through Philip Brittijn. However, Ringo Meerveld fired Heerenveen level only four minutes later.
Marcus Linday won it for Heerenveen with fifteen minutes to go and before the end Ivan Pinto was sent off for Fortuna Sittard.
Heerenveen is now seventh while Fortuna are 12th.
Telstar 4-1 Sparta Rotterdam
On Wednesday, Telstar boosted their chances of avoiding the drop with a big win over Sparta.
Milan Zonneveld had given Sparta the lead in the 31st minute but the hosts bounced back straight away with an equaliser from Jeff Hardeveld.
In the second half, striker Sem van Duijn scored twice before Jelani Seedorf sealed a comfortable victory late on.
Due to their rivals all winning, Telstar remains 16th while Sparta are 10th.
PSV Eindhoven 6-1 PEC Zwolle
PSV Eindhoven routed PEC Zwolle 6-1 with Esmir Bajraktarevic scoring a double and getting two assists.
After only nine minutes, Bajraktarevic set up Ricardo Pepi to net and it seemed PEC Zwolle were in for a long evening. However, PSV failed to double their advantage in the first half and after the break, Zico Buurmeester levelled.
PSV quickly regained their lead through Pepi and from that moment they were unstoppable. An own goal from Simon Jensen made it 3-1 before Bajraktarevic got the fourth.
Couhaib Driouech added a fifth before Bajraktarevic capped an excellent evening with another goal. PSV handed debuts to young talents Jim Koller and Jordy Bawuah.
PSV move onto 77 points while PEC Zwolle is 13th.
Go Ahead Eagles 0-0 AZ Alkmaar
Go Ahead Eagles and AZ Alkmaar played out a 0-0 draw on Thursday evening.
With the KNVB Cup won, AZ Alkmaar have little else to play for this season while Go Ahead Eagles are also heading for a mid-table finish.
AZ Alkmaar rested a number of players from the start and their second string couldn’t find the net despite 21 shots in the game.
AZ Alkmaar are 6th in the table while Go Ahead Eagles is 11th.
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