Eredivisie Round 21 Results: Comfortable wins for PSV & AZ, as Ajax return to winning ways

The Eindhoven giants weren't troubled too much by their opponents, while the reigning champions recorded their first win of 2012

Feb 12, 2012 6:00:00 PM

By Stefan Coerts

More On :  ADO Den Haag, Ajax, AZ, De Graafschap, Excelsior, Feyenoord, Groningen, Heerenveen, Heracles Almelo, NAC, NEC, PSV, RKC, Roda, Twente, Utrecht, Vitesse, VVV
Twente 2-3 Heracles

The home side started the match the better side of the two, but Heracles surprisingly opened the scoring. Sam Armenteros went past his direct opponent before sending in a perfect cross for Everton, who headed home from close range.

Twente fought back after the break, and Luuk de Jong restored parity with a low shot from a narrow angle after being set up by Nacer Chadli.

Nevertheless, Darl Douglas and again Everton then took advantage of Twente's sloppy defending to make it 3-1 for Heracles, before De Jong pegged one back well into stoppage time.
AZ 2-0 Excelsior
AZ dominated proceedings right from the start, but they had to wait until the 58th minute before they went 1-0 up. Bretto Holman reached Maarten Martens after a superb individual action, and the Belgian playmaker tapped home from close range.

Again Martens put the match to bed hardly 60 seconds later when he slid the 2-0 behind the Excelsior goalkeeper after an unfortunate back-pass from Samuel Scheimann.
Roda 1-0 NEC
NEC got a huge chance to open the scoring via Lasse Schone, but the attacking midfielder failed to find the net from close range.

Sanharib Malki then helped Roda to the full three points in the 56th minute with a powerful header after a good cross from the right.
VVV 2-0 Groningen
VVV bounced back from last week's disastrous loss against Excelsior with a deserved home win over Groningen. Left-winger Yanic Wildschut gifted the Venlo side the lead early on when he hammered home a loose ball from the edge of the area.

Wildschut continued to cause the Groningen defence all kinds of trouble, and set up Uche Nwofor in the 29th minute. The Nigerian youngster didn't hesitate and found the net with a calm finish in the far corner.
NAC 0-2 Ajax

Ajax created numerous chances to open the scoring in the opening 45 minutes, but were unable to beat NAC goalkeeper Jelle ten Rouwelaar, while Eric Botteghin hit the crossbar for the hosts.

The Amsterdam giants did go 1-0 up in the second half though. Dmitry Bulykin, who had hit the woodwork shortly before, went past his direct opponent, before finding the net with a shot that proved to be just too much for Ten Rouwelaar.

Substitute Nicolas Lodeiro then put the match to bed with a calm finish well into stoppage time after a through pass from Miralem Sulejmani.
Utrecht 1-1 ADO Den Haag
The hosts caused ADO all kinds of trouble with their long balls for strike-duo Alexander Gerndt and Frank Demouge, and they went 1-0 up in the 30th minute when Demouge rounded the guests' goalkeeper before tapping home.

However, some sloppy defending from Mark van der Maarel gave Lex Immers the chance to restore parity, and the attacking midfielder did not fail from 10 yards out.
PSV 4-1 De Graafschap

PSV started the encounter with attacking intentions and were rewarded for their positive attitude early on. The referee awarded them a questionable spot kick after Dries Mertens went to the ground inside the area, and the Belgian winger did not fail from the spot.

Ola Toivonen then doubled his side's lead with a header after a pin-point cross from the right, before prolific hitman Tim Matavz made it three for PSV with a superb finish from close range.

A quick attack involving Toivonen, Matavz and Kevin Strootman then led to PSV's fourth goal as the latter gave Jeremain Lens the opportunity to tap home in front of an empty goal.

Gil Vermouth pegged one back for De Graafschap after the interval, but it was too little, too late as PSV cruised to a comfortable win.
RKC 0-1 Heerenveen
RKC were dealt a huge blow after 29 minutes of play when Evander Sno received his marching orders following a reckless challenge on Viktor Elm in midfield.

Although Heerenveen were unable to really impress in the remainder of the game, they still bagged the full three points following Rajiv van La Parra's 40th minute strike to move to joint third position in the table.
Feyenoord 3-1 Vitesse


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