The Eredivisie, renowned for its vast amounts of goals, did not fail to impress once again this past weekend. Some interesting fixtures, and unexpected results, have only added to the excitement of the battle against relegation, quest for European football, and of course the race for the title.
PSV had the perfect opportunity to increase their lead at the top of the table with an away game at mid-table NAC Breda on Friday evening, with Twente and the rest of the title hopefuls not playing until Saturday and Sunday. However Breda, still dreaming of a Europa League play-off place, had other ideas and dealt the Dutch giants their first away defeat of the season, beating them 4-2.
It was league leaders PSV that struck first, with the ever-impressive Ola Toivonen setting up Reis to put his side 1-0 up. Then fifteen minutes later Brazilian Leonardo levelled the game by slotting the ball home through Isaksson's legs, although Breda's celebrations were cut short when Dzsudzsak scored his 8th of the season to put the visitors back in control. But an already gripping first half was not yet over, with the home side refusing to stay down as Amoah headed in to make it 2-2 at the break.
NAC's intent to sink PSV showed almost as soon as the second half got under way with Boussaboun smashing home to take the game to 3-2. However, with Luijckx being dismissed with quarter of an hour left the host's task to hold out for an invaluable three points seemed that much greater. Nonetheless, just five minutes after they were reduced to ten men Amoah bagged his second of the night and a famous win for his side.
With PSV slipping up on Friday night, FC Twente didn't miss the opportunity to level themselves up on points by playing their own part in a six-goal thriller on Saturday evening, beating NEC 4-2.
In an action-packed half similar to that of the night before, Nijmegen took the lead after nine minutes when Sibum completed a well-worked set piece. But it would be the first and last time the home fans would celebrate a lead in the game as Bryan Ruiz scored his and Twente's first of the night to level things up just under ten minutes later. Preud'homme's men continued to gain momentum throughout the half and went in 3-1 up at the break after Janko was gifted an easy finish and Ruiz got his second from the penalty spot.
Twente continued to pile on the pressure in the second half, but it was NEC that scored next through striker Vleminckx, giving his side a glimmer of hope. However the visitor's once again didn't give the home side much chance to celebrate, re-instating their two goal lead five minutes later, and putting the game out of NEC’s sight with only eleven minutes left to play.
Alkmaar grabbed a dramatic late point when they hosted Heerenveen on Saturday to keep themselves in touching distance with the rest of the title chasers. AZ took the lead with just seven minutes gone through Wernbloom, and a host of chances followed for both sides throughout the 1st half but to no avail.
It didn't take long for Heerenveen to equalise after the break, Vayrynen smashing home a rebound to make it 1-1 after 53 minutes. For a while it looked like both teams would settle for a point, until the 81st minute when Janmaat left Argentine keeper Sergio Romero no chance with a beautiful strike that it seemed would bag his side all three points. However Alkmaar continued to press, which paid off as Sigthórsson tapped home to make it 2-2 with just seconds left.
Roda moved to within just two points of their visitors Groningen on Saturday by beating them 1-0. The only goal of the game came just before half time when Djum's deflected shot found it's way into the back of Groningen's net. Groningen almost levelled the affair in the 84th minute when Matavz shot just wide, but they left with nothing to show from the game and slip back down to 4th in the table.
Willem II left it late to pick up only their third point of the season with a 1-1 draw against Excelsior, which saw the away side move back down into the relegation places. Ramsteijn gave Excelsior the lead early on in the second half, and it took an 89th minute goal from Levchenko to ensure the home side a very rare point.
Ajax reclaimed third place on Sunday by comfortably beating Venlo 2-0. It took just over an hour for the visitors to break down Venlo's defence when ex-premiership striker Mido made it 1-0, with fellow striker Sulejmani wrapping up all three points eight minutes later.
De Graafschap and Vitesse ended the weekend with a point-a-piece after drawing 1-1 as they continued their battle against relegation. Graafschap got first blood in the game when Youssouf Hersi netted 23 minutes in, only for Pluim to make it 1-1 four minutes later and that's how it stayed.
Feyenoord got a much-needed win to take them out of the relegation zone when they beat Den Haag 2-1. It looked like the Rotterdam side's season was only going to get worse when Bulykin put Den Haag a goal up on the stroke of half time, but an impressive second half fight back right from the off gave Feyenoord a deserved three points after an own goal from Radosavljevic and Castaignos scored the winner.
Heracles also moved away from the bottom three with a 2-1 win against FC Utrecht. An Schut own goal and a late spot kick from Willy Overtoom proved enough for the win with Utrecht's only response coming from Tim Cornelisse. They'll still be ruing a penalty miss early on in the second half that could have ended up earning them a point.