PSV primed as Feyenoord falter

By Berend Scholten

PSV Eindhoven extended their lead at the top of the Eredivisie after Feyenoord were held to a 1-1 draw by AFC Ajax, while in-form AZ Alkmaar won their fifth successive game to move second.

PSV victory
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink celebrated his 250th professional league appearance with his seventh goal of the season to give PSV a narrow win against Willem II at the Philips stadium. The striker's 16th-minute effort proved the difference between the sides in a far from fluent performance by PSV and they extended their unbeaten start to the season to 12 matches.

Kuijt equaliser
Feyenoord began the weekend four points adrift, and that was extended to six after Ruud Gullit's side were held at fourth-placed AFC Ajax. The home team broke the deadlock through Mauro Rosales on 27 minutes after good work from Ioannis Anastasiou before Dirk Kuijt equalised with a beautiful volley a minute before half-time.

AZ continue run
The result sees Feyenoord drop to third after AZ continued their terrific recent form with a 3-0 win at NAC Breda. Co Adriaanse's side led for much of the match after Martijn Meerdink's 34th-minute opener, but it was not until two minutes from full time that Tarik Sektioui made the game safe with two goals in two minutes. The three points extends UEFA Cup contenders AZ's unbeaten run to eight league games.

Amoah double
SBV Vitesse Arnhem also recorded a 3-0 win, against SC Heerenveen, to leapfrog their opponents into fifth. Nicky Hofs broke the deadlock on 58 minutes with a well-struck free-kick before Matthew Amoah added two in the final ten minutes to seal victory.

Emphatic victory
The biggest victory of the weekend came at the Zuiderparkstadion, where ADO Den Haag eased to a 5-1 win against RBC Roosendaal. Geert den Ouden scored twice as Den Haag recovered from two successive losses in emphatic style. Elsewhere, Roosendaal's fellow strugglers De Graafschap earned a rare point when Loïc Loval headed an 81st-minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw against RKC Waalwijk.

Terrific Twente
FC Utrecht and Roda JC drew 1-1, while FC Twente defeated NEC Nijmegen 2-0 with goals from Karim El Ahmadi and a 40-metre lob from Jason Culina. FC Groningen came from behind at home to defeat FC Den Bosch 3-1 after the visitors had taken the lead through Charlie van den Ouwenland. The home side, who also had Kassim Bizimana dismissed, hit back with three second-half goals from Glen Salmon, Danny Buijs and Mathias Florèn and rise to tenth.