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In the Netherlands, after the ninth round of the 26th "Eredivisie" championship over the weekend, the country's champions and current leaders Eindhoven's "PSV" increased their lead over closest pursuers Amsterdam's "Ajax" and Alkmaar's "AZ", as the latter played to a draw in an intriguing head-to-head match.
Although "Ajax" played the entire second half without Edgar Davids, who was sent off at the end of the first half, the first goal was scored by them - Kenneth Perez found the net in the 65th minute, but with just 11 minutes left in the match, a precise shot from Maarten Martens helped the hosts secure a point.
Meanwhile, the "PSV" team further widened the gap from their pursuers, even though the victory was achieved only in the last minutes. Playing at home against mid-table "Groningen", the "PSV" team scored the winning goal just three minutes before the end of regular time.
Somewhat surprisingly, playing at home, Enschede's "Twente" couldn't defeat Tilburg's "Willem II" and remained in fourth place.
Significantly, the absolute underdogs "Den Haag" earned an unexpected point at home, drawing 3-3 with Rotterdam's "Feyenoord". However, this point did not allow the Hague team to climb from the bottom of the table, as Waalwijk's "RKC" defeated Arnhem's "Vitesse" 3-1 at home and moved up one position.
Round 26 results:
"Utrecht" 3 - 0 "NEC" - 45' [1 - 0] H. Somers - 48' [2 - 0] G. Rossini - 63' [3 - 0] T. Caluwe
"PSV" 1 - 0 "Groningen" - 87' [1 - 0] R. Alex
"Twente" 0 - 0 "Willem II"
"Sparta" 0 - 0 "Heracles"
"AZ" 1 - 1 "Ajax" - 65' [0 - 1] K. Perez - 79' [1 - 1] M. Martens - 44' E. Davids ("Ajax") sent off
"Den Haag" 3 - 3 "Feyenoord" - 19' [0 - 1] J. Kolkka - 40' [1 - 1] R. Hoogendorp - 55' [1 - 2] A. Charisteas - 62' [2 - 2] R. Hoogendorp (from penalty) - 66' [3 - 2] L. Delorge - 73' [3 - 3] A. Charisteas - 87' M.d. Vries ("Den Haag") sent off
"Excelsior" 0 - 2 "NAC" - 51' [0 - 1] P. Mtiliga - 73' [0 - 2] A. Diba
"RKC" 3 - 1 "Vitesse" - 20' [0 - 1] D. Lazovic (from penalty) - 36' [1 - 1] J. Vertonghen - 75' [2 - 1] H.v.d. Haar - 85' [3 - 1] T. Janssen - 60' A. Pryor ("Vitesse") sent off
League Table
