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On Friday and Saturday, the 4th round of the Dutch "Eredivisie" championship took place. On Friday, the only match saw "RKC" win their first victory by beating "Den Haag" 1-0. On Saturday, three matches were played, with the championship newcomer "Excelsior" securing their second victory, "Heracles" defeating "Utrecht", and "Vitesse" suffering a painful defeat at home against the "NAC" team.
On Friday, in the only match of the 4th round, two league underdogs faced off: Waalwijk's "RKC" and "ADO Den Haag". The only goal of the match was scored at the beginning of the second half, when Tim Janssen, who came on as a substitute in the 49th minute, immediately beat the goalkeeper of "Den Haag". This victory lifted "RKC" to the middle of the table - 12th place, while "Den Haag" remains at the bottom of the league.
On Saturday, newcomer Rotterdam "Excelsior" faced Tilburg's "Willem II". In a thrilling match with five goals, "Excelsior" celebrated victory. The hosts created a very favorable situation in the first half. Sebastian Steur scored in the 35th minute, and three minutes later he doubled the result himself. In the 41st minute, Andwele Slory finished the first-half demolition.
However, in the second half, "Willem" players rallied and scored two goals: former "Tottenham" player Mounir el Hamdaoui managed to beat the "Excelsior" goalkeeper in the 45th and 83rd minutes, but it did not prevent them from suffering their third defeat of the season, pushing them to the 15th position.
One of the most interesting matches was supposed to take place between the local "Heracles" and "Utrecht", who were respectively in 7th-8th places. But there was no intrigue in the match, as the hosts simply crushed the visitors with a score of 3-0. The first goal came in the 5th minute, scored by Kwame Quansah. Halfway through the first half, Everton scored for the "Heracles" team, and at the end of the second half, Everton scored again. This victory lifted the "Heracles" team to the top of the league table, in 3rd place, trailing only two points behind "Ajax" and "AZ", who have played fewer matches.
In the other match, Arnhem's "Vitesse" lost to Breda's "NAC" team in front of their own fans. The match seemed to be heading for a draw, but in the very last minute of the match, Mike Zonneveld's accurate shot brought victory to the "NAC" team.
Results of the 4th round of the Dutch "Eredivisie" championship:
"Excelsior" 3 - 2 "Willem"
35‘ [1 - 0] Sebastian Steur
38‘ [2 - 0] Sebastian Steur
41‘ [3 - 0] Andwele Slory
45‘ [3 - 1] Mounir el Hamdaoui
83‘ [3 - 2] Mounir el Hamdaoui
"Heracles" 3 - 0 "Utrecht"
5‘ [1 - 0] Kwame Quansah
26‘ [2 - 0] Everton Ramos da Silva
82‘ [3 - 0] Everton Ramos da Silva
"Vitesse" 0 - 1 "NAC"
90‘ [0 - 1] Mike Zonneveld
"RKC" 1 - 0 "Den Haag"
49‘ [1 - 0] Tim Janssen
