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During the weekend, the 12th round matches of the Dutch "Eredivisie" championship were played. The most principled match between "Ajax" and "PSV" was won by the players from Eindhoven, while "AZ" crushed "Heracles", "Feyenoord" defeated "Willem" in an eight-goal thriller, "Twente" outscored "Groningen", the underdog match was won by "Sparta", "Vitesse" defeated "Utrecht", and three matches ended in a 1-1 draw.
On Friday, the 12th round of the Dutch championship started with a match between Breda's "NAC" and "Heerenveen". The guests took the lead already in the 5th minute when "Heerenveen's" attacking leader Alfonso Alves scored his 9th goal of the championship. It seemed like "Heerenveen" would secure the desired victory in the guests' arena, but everything fell apart in the 81st minute when "NAC" player Edwin de Graaf equalized.
On Saturday, three more matches were played. A stunning victory was achieved by Alkmaar's "AZ", which mercilessly defeated the "Heracles" club. The domination of the opponents started in the 2nd minute when Stijn Schaars put the hosts ahead. To double the lead before the end of the first half was done by Demy de Zeeuw with a precise penalty kick.
However, "AZ" wasn't satisfied with that and at the end of the second half, they simply tore apart the "Heracles" defense. Former "Rangers" striker Shota Arveladze scored a goal in the 81st minute, and after seven more minutes, he added his second goal. In the 90th minute, Denny Koevermans put the last nail in the "Heracles" coffin.
In Rotterdam, "Excelsior" fought against Nijmegen's "NEC". In this match, the goals were scored in the last minutes. In the 91st minute, "NEC" defender Ferne Snoyl put his team ahead, but just two minutes later, a penalty kick was awarded to the hosts, which was successfully converted by Marinus Dijkhuizens.
84' Sebastian Steur ("Excelsior") shown a yellow card
In Kerkrade, "Roda" fought against Waalwijk's "RKC". Thanks to Adil Ramzi's goal in the 19th minute, "Roda" took the lead, but in the middle of the second half, "RKC" striker Ricky van der Bergh equalized.
On Sunday, the central match was directed to Amsterdam, where the league leader "Ajax" hosted defending champions Eindhoven's "PSV". In the first half, the teams did not show their full strength, so they went into halftime with a 0-0 score. However, in the 63rd minute, after a penalty kick lifted by Edison Mendez, "PSV" defender Tommy Simons scored a header goal into the distant net, leaving no chances for "Ajax" goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.
But "Ajax" was not ready to give up so easily, and after Kenneth Perez's pass, team leader Wesley Sneijder scored a goal, however the ball missed completely near "PSV" goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes' net. "PSV" couldn't take advantage of their chance to increase the lead, as Ivory Coast striker Arouna Kone's shot hit the crossbar. But the guests had to finish the match in inferiority, as E.Mendez, who received his second yellow card for time wasting, was sent off the field.
However, this did not prevent "PSV" from defeating their main competitors and after a long break, once again reigning at the top of the tournament table, pushing "Ajax" to the 2nd position.
The most colorful match took place in Enschede, where hosts "Twente" met "Groningen". In the 16th minute of the match, the first goal was scored by "Twente's" attacking leader Blaise N‘Kufo, converting a penalty. But after six minutes, the score became equal, as the home team's goalkeeper was defeated by Goran Lovre. That was all the visitors showed in this match. Further in the game, the goals were scored only by "Twente" players. At the end of the first half, Kennedy Bakircioglu restored the lead for his team.
At the beginning of the second half, the same K.Bakircioglu scored the third goal for the "Twente" club. After playing for about 20 more minutes, B.N‘Kufo marked his second goal of the match. From then on, "Groningen" lost their focus and fully handed over the initiative to the "Twente" players. with only five minutes left to play, Luke Wilkshire scored another goal, and after four minutes, the goal scorer was announced as Sergio Zijler, who finally humiliated "Groningen" a minute later. The final score was 7-1.
In another eight-goal thriller match between Tilburg's "Willem" and Rotterdam's "Feyenoord", the visitors built a three-goal advantage in less than an hour: Stein Huysegems scored in the 10th minute, Danny Buijs in the 33rd, and Joonas Kolkka in the 54th.
However, the home team did not give up after a difficult start, and immediately after a minute, the score became 3-1, when Thomas Baelum defeated "Feyenoord" goalkeeper Henk Timmer. After five minutes, Iwan Redan reduced the deficit to one.
However, it was not "Willem's" day in this match. In the 61st minute, J. Koolka scored the fourth goal, and after six minutes, D.Buijs' second goal nullified all hopes of equalizing the score. But the home team did not want to raise the white flag, and in the 75th minute, Anour Hadouir scored to make it 5-3.
Additionally, in the 76th minute, "Feyenoord" player Dwight Tiendalli was sent off the field for a handball, but despite the numerical advantage, "Willem" suffered another setback, while "Feyenoord" celebrated a very important victory.
In Arnhem, "Vitesse" eventually surpassed the resistance of the "Utrecht" team after a tough battle. In the 7th minute of the meeting, the "Vitesse" team took the lead, with Etienne Asajas marking the goal. Onur Kaya doubled his team's advantage in the 26th minute. At the beginning of the second half, Sebastian Sansoni scored the third goal. The home team relaxed, and "Utrecht" took advantage of that.
In the 71st minute, Peter Kopteff saved "Utrecht" from a shameful defeat. Five minutes later, Robin Nelisse scored his second goal, making "Vitesse" somewhat nervous. But all hopes crumbled in the 81st minute, when Danko Lazovic slammed his opponents into the "Utrecht" goal after being awarded a penalty kick.
In another match between the championship underdogs, the last-placed Rotterdam "Sparta" played against the closest opponents, the "Den Haag" team from The Hague. The spectators had to wait for a goal for more than half an hour, when in the 40th minute, Yuri Rose's shot lifted the spirits of the fans from the stands.
In the final minutes of the second half, the score became level. In the 79th minute, "Den Haag" player Kristoffer Wesckstrom equalized. In the referee's added time, "Sparta" gifted a victory to the "Den Haag" team with a goal from Danny Schenkel.
Results of the weekend matches:
"NAC" 1 – 1 "Heerenveen"
5‘ [0 – 1] Alfonso Alves
81‘ [1 – 1] Edwin de Graaf
"AZ" 5 – 0 "Heracles"
2‘ [1 – 0] Stijn Schaars
21‘ [2 – 0] Demy de Zeeuw
81‘ [3 – 0] Shota Arveldaze
88‘ [4 – 0] Shota Arveldaze
90‘ [5 – 0] Danny Koevermans
"Excelsior" 1 – 1 "NEC"
90+1‘ [0 – 1] Ferne Snoyl
90+3‘ [1 – 1] Marinus Dijkhuizens (11m.)
84‘ Sebastian Steur ("Excelsior") shown a yellow card
"Roda" 1 – 1 "RKC"
19‘ [1 – 0] Adil Ramzi
57‘ [1 – 1] Ricky van den Bergh
"Ajax" 0 – 1 "PSV"
63‘ [0 – 1] Tommy Simons
"Twente" 7 – 1 "Groningen"
16‘ [1 -0] Blaise N‘Kufo (11 m.)
22‘ [1 – 1] Goran Lovre
45‘ [2 – 1] Kennedy Bakircioglu
50‘ [3 – 1] Kennedy Bakircioglu
71‘ [4 – 1] Blaise N‘Kufo
85‘ [5 – 0] Luke Wilkshire
89‘ [6 – 1] Sergio Zijler
90‘ [7 – 1] Sergio Zijler
"Willem" 3 – 5 "Feyenoord"
10‘ [0 – 1] Stein Huysegems
33‘ [0 – 2] Danny Buijs
54‘ [0 – 3] Joonas Kolkka
55‘ [1 – 3] Thomas Baelum
59‘ [2 – 3] Iwan Redan
61‘ [2 – 4] Joonas Kolkka
67‘ [2 – 5] Danny Buijs
75‘ [3 – 5] Anour Hadouir
76‘ Dwight Tiendali ("Feyenoord") sent off
"Vitesse" 4 – 2 "Utrecht"
7‘ [1 – 0] Etienne Asajas
26‘ [2 – 0] Onur kaya
49‘ [3 – 0] Sebastian Sansoni
71‘ [3 – 1] Peter Kopteff
76‘ [3 – 2] Robin Nelisse
81‘ [4 – 2] Danko Lazovic (11 m.)
"Sparta" 2 – 1 "Den Haag"
40‘ [1 – 0] Yuri Rose
79‘ [1 – 1] Kristoffer Wesckstrom
90+2‘ [2 – 1] Danny Schenkel
Most active players:
1-2. Alfonso Alves – 9 goals ("Heerenveen")
Blaise N‘Kufo – 9 ("Twente")
3-4. Jefferson Farfan – 8 ("PSV")
Danko Lazovic – 8 ("Vitesse")
5-6. Kenneth Perez – 7 ("Ajax")
Danny Koevermans – 7 ("AZ")
