Hirving Lozano was sent off as Heerenveen came from 2-0 down to hold leaders PSV Eindhoven to a 2-2 draw.
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In front of a watching Ronald Koeman, PSV got off to a sloppy start with both teams failing to create any clear-cut chances in the opening half-hour.
On 34 minutes the hosts opened the scoring as Santiago Arias headed in a corner. Less than ten minutes later it was 2-0 as Kik Pierie’s attempted clearances landed at the feet of Luuk de Jong, who calmly slotted the ball into the net.
Just before the break, the referee offered Heerenveen a lifeline as Hirving Lozano was shown a straight red card. The Mexican’s arm connected with Lucas Woudenberg’s face and it was deemed to be deliberate by Dennis Higler.
At half-time Pierie was sacrificed as Henk Veerman came on to bolster the Heerenveen attack. Ten minutes into the second half, Heerenveen cut the lead with former PSV midfielder Stijn Schaars finding the bottom corner with a controlled finish from the edge of the box.
Veerman nearly equalised on 65 minutes but his volley was just turned past the post by Jeroen Zoet. The resulting corner was also met by the towering striker but his header flew over the bar.
PSV tried to hold onto their lead and brought on Derrick Luckassen to go five at the back. However, their resistance was broken on 81 minutes when Nicolas Isimat-Mirin couldn’t clear far enough with a header and Reza Ghoochannejhad tapped in from close range.
De Jong nearly restored PSV’s lead straight away but his effort came back off the inside of the post and bounced just short of the line before being cleared. That was the closest that either side came to finding a winner before the end and both had to settle for a point.
PSV move 8 points clear of Ajax, who play on Sunday while Heerenveen sit 9th.
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