The Eredivisie returned from the winter break with four matches on Saturday evening. Below is a round up of all the action.
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AZ Alkmaar 1-0 Volendam
AZ Alkmaar made a winning start to 2026 as they saw off Volendam thanks to Sven Mijnans.
The hosts took the lead early on with Mijnans capitalising on a defensive error to net. After that, AZ had plenty of chances to increase the lead but Kayne van Oevelen made a number of big saves.
In the second half, AZ handed debuts to Jizz Hornkamp and Ayoub Oufkir but no further goals were to be scored. Joel Ideho did get a big chance to equalise for Volendam but he blazed over.
AZ start the year with three points and they are fifth while Volendam is 17th.
Twente 1-1 PEC Zwolle
FC Twente missed a number of chances as they were held to a draw by PEC Zwolle.
In the first half, the hosts dominated but they couldn’t take one of their many chances. Kristian Hlynsson and Sondre Ørjasæter, were particularly wasteful.
In the 65th minute, PEC Zwolle netted with their first effort on target as Shola Shoretire headed in a long throw.
Twente pushed for an equaliser and it came with five minutes left as Mats Rots crossed for his brother Daan to head in.
Twente is 7th and PEC Zwolle is 12th.
PSV Eindhoven 5-1 Excelsior
PSV Eindhoven started the year with a simple win over Excelsior.
The hosts have built a strong lead at the top of the league and they were given no trouble from Excelsior as they went into the break with a 4-1 lead.
Dennis Man hit the post before Paul Wanner opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a close-range finish. Ricardo Pepi then netted a cross from Joey Veerman to double the lead but the striker sustained an arm injury during the goal and had to be substituted.
Centre back duo Yarek Gasiorowski and Ryan Flamingo then both scored headers to make it 4-0 before Ilias Bronkhorst pulled one back.
In the second half, Man capitalised on a defensive error to make it 5-1 and that is how the match ended.
PSV now has an 11 point lead at the top while Excelsior is 14th.
Groningen 0-0 NAC Breda
Groningen were held to a draw by NAC Breda, who climbed off the bottom of the table.
The hosts struggled to create chances in the first half which was a dull affair in the Euroborg.
After the break, NAC handed a debut to Andre Ayew and he did have a chance to cap his debut with a goal but headed over the bar.
Neither club could find a goal before the end and Groningen remains 6th while NAC is now 16th.
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