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After nine rounds of the 28th "Eredivisie" championship in the Netherlands, Amsterdam's "Ajax" returned to third place in the country's championship, while Eindhoven's "PSV" and Alkmaar's "AZ" failed to beat the Rotterdam teams.
In the match against "Twente", "Ajax" had no trouble, although they conceded a goal at the very beginning - in the 7th minute after a great pass from the right, Blaise N'Kufo scored a header. However, later the visitors from the capital scored four unanswered goals. Three of them were scored by Klaas Jan Huntelaar.
In the 21st minute, K.J. Huntelaar was left completely alone in the penalty area and also equalized the score with a header shot into the far corner. The 23-year-old Dutch striker scored again 9 minutes later, converting a penalty kick. At the end of the first half, another striker Ryan Babel scored the third goal from close range. K.J. Huntelaar scored his third goal with 15 minutes left in the match. After receiving a long pass across the half of the field, the striker scored with a precise shot into the far bottom corner, securing Ajax's victory with a score of 4-1.
Meanwhile, both Eindhoven's "PSV" and Alkmaar's "AZ" failed to beat the Rotterdam teams, "Excelsior" and "Feyenoord" respectively. Both matches ended in a draw.
After these matches, there were changes in the tournament table. The "Ajax" club, which was in 4th place before the round, overtook the defeated "Twente" and equalized in points with "AZ", who remained in second place only due to a better goal difference. The country's champions, Eindhoven's "PSV", continued to hold the first place.
A somewhat unexpected result was recorded in Tilburg, where the local team "Willem II" defeated the much higher-ranked "Groningen" team 3-0. The first goal came in the first attack, not even a minute had passed, scored by Cristiano. Anouar Hadouir scored two more goals in this match.
The match in Arnhem, where the local team "Vitesse" hosted the absolute underdogs "Den Haag", turned out to be dramatic. The latter took the lead after Santi Kolk's goal in the 11th minute, but already 4 minutes later the score was equalized after defenders' mistakes by Mads Junker. However, in the 37th minute, after a last hope penalty in the penalty area, Giovanny Espinoza was sent off, and the same Santi Kolk converted the 11-meter penalty kick.
At the very end of the match, "Vitesse" staged an attack on the goal. At first, Eljero Elia, a striker from The Hague club who had only appeared on the field in the second half, was sent off for a second yellow card. And the equalizing goal for "Vitesse" was scored with a beautiful strike. After a corner kick, footballers headed the ball several times until Fred Benson, who had only entered the field in the second half, sent the ball into the goal with a volley.
Results of the 28th matchday:
"AZ" 0 - 0 "Feyenoord" "Excelsior" 0 - 0 "PSV" "Twente" 1 - 4 "Ajax" 7' [1 - 0] B. NKufo 21' [1 - 1] K.J. Huntelaar 30' [1 - 2] K.J. Huntelaar 45' [1 - 3] R. Babel 75' [1 - 4] K.J. Huntelaar
"Roda" 0 - 0 "Utrecht" 8' A. Boussaboun ("Utrecht") sent off
"NAC" 1 - 1 "Heracles" 32' [1 - 0] A. Slot 52' [1 - 1] I. Gluscevic
"Heerenveen" 1 - 0 "RKC" 29' [1 - 0] P. Hansson
"Willem II" 3 - 0 "Groningen" 1' [1 - 0] R. Cristiano 32' [2 - 0] A. Hadouir 69' [3 - 0] A. Hadouir
"Sparta" 0 - 4 "NEC" 10' [0 - 1] E. Barreto 45' [0 - 2] R. Beerens 54' [0 - 3] J. Olsson 69' [0 - 4] B. Holman
"Vitesse" 2 - 2 "Den Haag" 11' [0 - 1] S. Kolk 15' [1 - 1] M. Junker 38' [1 - 2] S. Kolk 90' [2 - 2] F. Benson 37' G. Espinoza ("Vitesse") and 90' E. Elia ("Den Haag") sent off
Tournament table
