PSV Eindhoven kept the pressure on Ajax with a 3-1 victory over Heracles Almelo in the early kick-off on Sunday.
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PSV named the same eleven that defeated Go Ahead Eagles in the KNVB Cup on Wednesday, but Heracles were without Janis Blaswich, Marco Rente, Orestis Kiomourtzoglou, and Lukas Schoofs.
PSV created the first big chance through Noni Madueke before they took the lead in the 20th minute. Madueke played the ball to Joey Veerman and the midfielder fired it low into the bottom corner.
The hosts missed chances to extend their lead before the break but eventually, Eran Zahavi made it 2-0 after 55 minutes with a fierce strike. Zahavi and Madueke then left the field, paving the way for the return of Cody Gakpo, while Vinicius also entered.
In the 69th minute, Heracles pulled one back when Samuel Armenteros headed towards goal and it changed direction of Ibrahim Sangare before beating Joel Drommel.
Any fear was quickly extinguished as Veerman played a deep ball to Mario Gotze, who then set up Gakpo to make it 3-1 and seal PSV’s victory.
Just before the end there was an Eredivisie debut for talented winger Johan Bakayoko, who replaced the once again excellent Veerman. PSV remains second and two points behind Ajax, while Heracles is 12th.