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On Wednesday and Thursday, matches from the 9th round of the Eredivisie championship in the Netherlands were played. Wins were secured by "PSV", "Groningen", "Ajax", "AZ", "Feyenoord" and "NAC", while "Heracles", "RKC", "NEC" and "Roda" shared a point each.
On Wednesday, the most goals were scored in the match between Eindhoven's "PSV" and Rotterdam's "Sparta". The defending champions demolished the absolute league outsiders "Sparta" with a score of 7-0.
The first goal came in the 4th minute, scored by Ivory Coast national team forward Arouna Kone. In the 20th minute, a penalty kick was awarded to the visitors and Jefferson Farfan converted. Just eight minutes later, J.Farfan added his second goal and then beat Joost Terol for the third time. Towards the end of the first half, A.Kone scored another goal.
In the second half, the hosts slowed down a little, but woke up towards the end of the match. In the 78th minute, veteran defender Michael Reiziger added another goal to "Sparta's" net. Three minutes later, J.Farfan completed his hat-trick, and in extra time, goalkeeper Timmy Simons converted a penalty kick, sealing the victory in this match.
In the other hard-fought matches, mid-table team "Groningen" faced newcomer "Excelsior". The only goal was scored in the 23rd minute by "Groningen" defender Erik Nevland. However, just before the end of the first half, the score was leveled by the visitors' forward Guilliano Grot. Nevertheless, the hosts secured the victory in the 67th minute with E.Nevland scoring another goal.
In another match, Amsterdam's "Ajax" took on "Den Haag". The first goal had to wait until the half-hour mark. In the 29th minute, recently acquired defender Gabri from Barcelona sent a long-range shot into "Den Haag" goalkeeper Robbert Zwinkels' net, and two minutes later, "Ajax" star Wesley Sneijder doubled the lead.
In the city of Almelo, local team "Heracles" hosted visitors from Waalwijk "RKC". The guests were the first to score, as early as the 9th minute after Ruud Berger's shot found the net. However, the hosts did not give up and equalized in the 22nd minute through Robbert Schilder.
In the last match between Nijmegen's "NEC" and Kerkrade's "Roda", no goals were scored - the final result was 0-0.
On Thursday, the final matches of the 9th round were played. Last year's vice-champion Alkmaar's "AZ" showed beautiful football while defeating "Willem" from Tilburg 4-0.
After just a few minutes of play, the visitors had a chance to take the lead when the referee awarded a penalty to "AZ". However, Geertas den Ouden failed to score against "AZ" goalkeeper Joey Didulica. "You miss, I score." This golden football rule was reminded to the visitors by Demy de Zeeuw, who scored the first goal of the match in the 13th minute.
The full beauty of the "AZ" team was shown in the second half. Maarten Martens scored in the 53rd minute, followed by an additional goal by Moussa Dembele ten minutes later. With 5 minutes left to play, "Willem's" defense was breached by Danny Koevermans.
After a painful defeat from "Ajax," Rotterdam's "Feyenoord" this time fought back and managed to defeat "Twente". But the first goal of the match was scored in the 30th minute by the visitors' player Sharbel Touma. It was only after the break that the Rotterdam team recovered and scored two goals without reply. Stein Huysegems scored in the 47th minute and Jonathan de Guzman secured the win with a penalty kick in the 85th minute.
In the last match of Thursday, Breda's "NAC" faced "Utrecht". In the 9th minute, Patrick Zwaanswijk put the hosts ahead, but at the beginning of the second half, Marc-Antoine Fortune equalized. However, in the 90th minute, "NAC" clinched an important victory thanks to a precise shot by Arne Slot.
Results of the 9th round:
"PSV" 7 – 0 "Sparta" 4‘ [1 – 0] Arouna Kone 20‘ [2 – 0] Jefferson Farfan (penalty) 28‘ [3 – 0] Jefferson Farfan 40‘ [4 – 0] Arouna Kone 78‘ [5 – 0] Michael Reiziger 81‘ [6 – 0] Jefferson Farfan 92‘ [7 – 0 ] Timmy Simons (penalty)
"Groningen" 2 – 1 "Excelsior" 23‘ [1 – 0] Erik Nevland 45‘ [1 – 1] Guilliano Grot 67‘ [2 – 1] Erik Nevland
"Ajax" 2 – 0 "Den Haag" 29‘ [1 – 0] Gabri 31‘ [2 – 0] Wesley Sneijder
"Heracles" 1 – 1 "RKC" 9‘ [0 – 1] Ruud Berger 22‘ [1 – 1] Robbert Schilder
"NEC" 0 – 0 "Roda"
"AZ" 4 – 0 "Willem" 13‘ [1 – 0] Demy de Zeeuw 53‘ [2 – 0] Maarten Martens 63‘ [3 – 0] Moussa Dembele 84‘ [4 – 0] Danny Koevermans
"Feyenoord" 2 – 1 "Twente" 30‘ [0 – 1] Sharbel Touma 47‘ [1 – 1] Stein Huysegems 85‘ [2 – 1] Jonathan de Guzman
"NAC" 2 – 1 "Utrecht" 9‘ [1 – 0] Patrick Zwaanswijk 50‘ [1 – 1] Marc-Antoine Fortune 90‘ [2 – 1] Arne Slot
